Beauty and the Beast
by The Princess of Stars
Summary: "Never in a million years I would have thought to see him so… shaken by what he did. That man in front of me was like a huge shattered puzzle that in order to understand you needed to put back together piece by piece, but the more pieces you put in place, the more the puzzle seemed to complicate" Unknowingly to her, to Hans's eyes Elsa was just as complicated. (Redemption!Hans)
1. Prologue

**Hi peeps! What's up? So, after _My Life In a Vlog_ , here is my new Helsa fanfiction! I'll warn you: THE FIRST FEW CHAPTERS ARE 2 YEARS OLD, so you might find some changes in style as my original plan was to finish it and then post it. I have about 236 pages done, so I should be able to update regularly EVERY FRIDAY, for a while, though I've got a severe case of writer's block, but I've been working on it for a while and I wanted to start sharing it with you guys.  
**

 **BEFORE YOU READ!  
** **In my story, there are no historical or linguistic/idiomatic references. That is why I also like using idiomatic expressions or modern slang like "Dude", even though the story seems set a few centuries ago.** **I will quote Shakespeare, Dante, the Greek and Latin authors, maybe kant and Schopenhauer, but their homeland will never be mentioned, except for the latin and greeks which will be named "Ancient Culture", to be more specific: Latin- West Ancient Culture, Greek- East Ancient culture. Either way, these authors I'll quote are from another place and time: mine, the author's.**

 **One last thing, IT HAS _NOTHING TO DO_ WITH "BEAUTY AND THE BEAST"! You'll get the title meaning as you read on.**

 **With that being said: Enjoy! :-)**

* * *

 **Hans' POV:**

Here I am, standing and waiting at the start of the aisle. I'm not supposed to be here, but here I am. As the music began, she entered the church in her wonderful white bride dress: an off-shoulder dress, that perfectly hugged her body to her waist and loose beneath it, she wasn't wearing any heels, her long, wavy auburn hair was loose with her bangs perfectly combed to the side, showing off her bright eyes. She wasn't wearing any make-up (like she needed any to begin with), she was wearing _our_ necklace: Ying and Yung. Mine was gold with a silver spot, and hers was silver with a gold spot. It was a symbol of our friendship, of our bond. In all, she was stunning. It was the second time I ever saw her dressed as a woman. She was just sixteen and looked so grown up, and she was already getting married. All the people who were invited stood up as I walked to her, offering her my arm which she gladly took, looping hers through it. I walked her down the aisle to her Prince Charming, who stood at the altar in his royal uniform glory, the young King Landon of Drakora. He was a couple of years younger than me, which made him 19 years-old, tall, short blonde hair, neatly combed to the side, broad shoulders, athletic figure, he was certainly a good-looking man, but what counted the most was the look in his eyes as soon as he saw the woman walking at my side. He loved her and the smile on her face confirmed that the feeling was mutual.  
There were a lot of people celebrating the wedding, most of them were soldiers and their families, others were commoners but they had all one thing in common, they were all people who were eternally grateful to the soon-to-be queen. As we got to the altar, Skylynn smiled at me and hugged me as I kissed her cheek, then I stood to the side as she took King Landon's hand and the ceremony began. All eyes were set on the happy couple throughout the ceremony.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss" said the priest as soon as they exchanged rings. Skylynn smiled widely as Landon wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her as the crowd cheered. When they pulled away the priest said "I now present you King Landon III and Queen Skylynn I of Drakora!" The crowd cheered even more loudly and I couldn't help but smile at them. Then a thought came to me, I was on my own now… I didn't have Skylynn anymore. Skylynn got her happy ending, she didn't need me anymore, actually, she never did. She became queen and I was back to being the last of thirteen sons, back to being ignored, back to being the… thirteenth wheel. When I got back 'home' from the wedding, it didn't take much for my brothers to figure out where I've been and make me pay about it.

"What the hell did I ever do to you?!" I shouted coughing as Brad, the sixth of the offspring, punched me in the guts "Why do you treat me like a piece of trash and what's so wrong in attending Skylynn's wedding?!"

"She is a bastard child! And we treat you like trash because you are trash! Nobody cares about you! Look at you, you can't even defend yourself"

"Easy when it's a 6 on 1!" another blow came from Herbert, the third son.

"You would manage if you were a man. Us Westerguards are warriors, admirals, we fight back. If that girl got to get where she is you should at least try to defend yourself. Plus we're just preparing you"

" _That girl_ has a name"

"Getting defensive over King Landon's mistress are we, Hans?" Jayden, the eighth prince, provoked.

"Don't you dare talk about Skylynn like that, you bastard!" I yelled throwing a punch at him, but Linus, the eleventh, caught my fist and punched me in the gut.

"The only bastard here is her" Linus said

"Luckily for us, she is now King Landon's problem" August, Herbert's twin, said. I smirked.

"I get it now" I said trying to get up "You are all jealous of Skylynn. You're jealous because she made it, you're jealous because she's a heroine, you're jealous because she outsmarts all of you, because she found love and because starting from nothing, she proved herself worthy of being a ruler, something you never will be" they all laughed at me, then Gordon, the fourth prince, punched me in the face, again knocking me down.

"And neither will you" he said "You may be a prince, but you'll never become king, nobody wants you, you are worth nothing. Nobody needs you, not even your precious Skylynn. If only there was someone out there to love you…" he said with a smirk that wiped away mine. Then they left.  
That was the moment I made up my mind: I would become king, whatever it takes. Even if that meant killing someone. I would have shown them all. I would have proven all of them wrong! I would have shown them what kind of man I was. I would have them either begging at my feet for forgiveness or look at me with envy knowing that I made it and that they can't touch me anymore without risking of having their heads chopped off. I wouldn't have needed anybody, I could have done this on my own and nothing and no one was going to stop me.

* * *

 **2 years later, a month after the Great Thaw…**

 **Anna's POV:**

"Incoming!" I yelled as I threw a snowball back at Elsa. She finally had some time off and we decided to spend it together by having a picnic near the lake. It was a wonderful day of early September, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, it was still very warm, actually. We got there by carriage since Sven was out with Kristoff. We had a nice picnic, catching up after being separated for years. We talked about Elsa's queenly duties, about her control over her powers, and she wanted to know how it was going with Kristoff… she said it was just out of curiosity, but I believe that she was being the protective big sister. Well, what was I supposed to expect? I got engaged after one day and it didn't end so well, plus she spent all those years in isolation to protect me from herself, of course she is protective of me! Anyway, after eating a delicious chocolate cake, I asked Elsa to work her magic and soon enough, the small area was covered in snow, perfect for a snowball fight. The fact that Elsa could just conjure the snowballs was an extra to the fun even if harder for me. Usually Olaf would join us, but sometimes we wanted it to be just the two of us. As we threw snowballs at each other, we didn't notice we had moved away from our picnic spot and towards a higher edge of the lake, Elsa dangerously close to the edge and with her back to it… what do you think happened next? Yup, that's right! I hit Elsa square in the face with a snowball and sent her splashing into the lake. I froze… almost literally.

Luckily, Elsa emerged from the water, brushing away her soaked platinum blonde hair from her eyes. She looked up throwing daggers at me. She was not happy about that. "Sorry" I muttered waving timidly at her. She shook her head and, fighting with her ice dress, swam towards the shore where our picnic spot was. I immediately ran back there, heading towards my sister. As I got to her, Elsa was out of the water and completely soaked, she was actually twisting her wet braid to get the water out.

"I'm _so_ , so, so, so, _so_ , _**so**_ sorry, Elsa!" I said running towards her.

"I really hope you saw that back dive, because I'm NOT doing it again" she said glaring at me.

"Sorry… are you alright?" I asked as she wiped her face from the water and placing a hand on my shoulder walking around me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I would have rather liked to stay dry, but…" she paused and placed her other hand on my other shoulder "Are _you_ alright?" that got me confused.

"Yeah?"

"Good!" and she pushed my into the lake. Good news was the water wasn't deep because we were next to the shore, bad news was I fell on my butt, inside the water with a loud splash and ended up soaked almost as much as my sister. But Elsa wasn't done, she came closer to me and started splashing me.

"Elsa! Stop it!" I said between laughs, splashing her back, but she didn't stop and kept splashing and laughing at me. It felt like we were kids again. When we were decided we had soaked ourselves enough, we went to lay down in the sun on the picnic cloth to dry ourselves as best as we could. Elsa was laying on her back and I used her stomach as a pillow. We laid there chatting and joking, sometimes Elsa would gently whack me on the head when I cracked a couple of jokes on her. But of course, we had to head back at some point. We got up, cleaned up what was left of the picnic, placed it on the carriage, woke up the coachman who had fallen asleep waiting for us, went back to the castle. As soon as we got there we didn't even get the time to go back to our rooms that Kai, the butler, walked to us as fast as he could.

"Queen Elsa, your Majesty!" he called her. Elsa turned to look at him.

"What's going on, Kai?" she asked as soon as she saw his worried look. Kai stopped in front of us and acknowledged my presence with a quick bow.

"A letter just arrived, it's… it's kind of important" he said.

"Thank you, Kai" she said, the butler bowed and walked away. Elsa turned back to me with an apologetic smile on her face.

"Duty calls?" I asked, even if I knew the answer

"Yeah…" she said "I'll see you later though" then she looked out of the window and then towards the clock "It's 5:45p.m." she said looking at me with a small smile.

"Okay…?" then my eyes widen as I remembered "Kristoff's back!" I shouted jumping up and down, excited to see my boyfriend after a long day "I'll leave you to your queenly duties, then! Bye-bye!" I said smiling widely and running back down the stairs.

"Anna" Elsa called. I stopped dead in my tracks, turned around, ran back up the stairs and back to Elsa who stood there offering me her cheek.

"Right, sorry" I said, swiftly kissed her cheek and turned back around "I'll see you at dinner!" I said and ran down the stairs nearly falling down as I tripped on my feet.

"Try not to kill yourself down the stairs!" shouted Elsa from behind me.

"Okay!" I answered and made my way looking for Kristoff. I ran around the castle, tripping a few times, until I found him in the stables with Sven. Since he became Arendelle's official Ice Master and Deliverer, I suggested him to come and live in the castle with us so we could see each other every day. Of course, I first needed to ask for Elsa's permission, which meant it was not just the Queen's permission I had to ask. She looked kind of suspicious and reluctant when I first asked. Basically, she first lectured me and then gave me a third degree, but then she agreed to it. I believe she already had decided he could stay, though. Even if she would never admit to it, I knew she had grown fond of Kristoff. She just enjoys playing Protective-Big-Sister.  
Anyways, as I was saying, I found him in the stables, where he was taking care of Sven. As I called him, he turned around and smiled at me and opened his arms as I jumped to throw my arms around him.

"Hey, Anna!" he greeted kissing my cheek and setting me back down on my feet.

"How did the ice harvesting go?" I asked keeping my arms around him.

"Oh, it was fine. The harvesters are actually quite happy about it. Looks like Elsa actually froze more ice than usual up in the mountains, last month. More ice, means more extras, which means more ice to sell" he said with a happy face.

"That sounds great, Kristoff" his expression changed for a moment, as if he has just remembered something.

"Anna, where's Elsa? I need to talk to her" he asked me.

"About what?"

"Oh, nothing…I- I have to… uhm… do my… weekly report! That's it! I have to do my weekly report, that's all" I raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

"Uhm… probably in her study, she had queenly duty to attend to. I think it's better if you tell her later"

"Oh… okay" he said looking oddly disappointed, then his face broke into a smile, he bent down and gave me a quick peck on the lips "So, how was your day?" he asked.

"Oh, it was great! Elsa and I went…" I started telling him about our day out, Elsa's fall (to which he laughed hysterically, only to beg me not to tell her he knew), and basically the rest of my day.

 **Elsa's POV:**

It's been a while since I entered my study to read the letter. I just couldn't stop thinking about it. I kept reading it to myself, trying to come up with what to do about it. It said:

 _HRM Queen Elsa I of Arendelle,  
It's been a month since the Great Thaw and it's been a month since my youngest brother, Hans Westerguard, has been imprisoned. I apologize for not being able to take care of his case any sooner, but I had to personally deal with other urgent matters, but alas, Hans Westerguard still needs to have his trial. According to the laws of the Southern Isles, high treason is to be punished with death, however, his crime has not been committed in the Southern Isles, but in Arendelle. Our law is also very clear on saying that whenever a citizen of the Southern Isles commits a crime in another kingdom, it's that other kingdom's duty to hold his trial and decide his fate according to its laws.  
Because of this, I took the liberty of looking at the Arendellian laws myself and turns out that it is up to the monarch to decide the criminal's fate, which in Hans Westerguard's case would be the most outright thing to do.  
My ship shall be in Arendelle in four days. I'll be there as well, escorting the prisoner alongside two of my brothers, Prince Herbert and Prince Gordon.  
According to the law that both our kingdoms have in common, all the nobleman and noblewomen who were present during the Great Thaw, need to be summoned to the trail as witnesses. I took the liberty of sending them a letter to inform them of the trial.  
Considering that all that has happened a month ago directly involves you and Princess Anna, as an experienced king, it's my duty to encourage a young queen, such as yourself, to be as coherent as possible with your country's law and punish the traitor as you see fit, but as a brother, I beg you not to let your resentment for him to get the best of you._

 _I will see you in four days_

 _Sincerely  
King Theodore IV Westerguard of the Southern Isles_

So… yeah… Hans was coming back for his trial. I would have to see his face again – heck- I had his _life_ in my hands. It was my first trial and I already had to deal with sparing or taking a man's life, and King Theodore was absolutely right about one thing. I did feel resentment towards him –no, wait- actually I was beyond furious. He left Anna to die frozen, after he tricked her into being in love with her, then he tried to kill me and to take over Arendelle. All I knew was that, at the trial, every word I say will be written down and every word will weigh something, every sentence that comes out of my mouth will weigh on his fate. But how can I judge someone impartially when his crime was against Anna and I. How am I supposed to ask Anna to be impartial after what he did to her? After he humiliated her like that?  
My train of thoughts was interrupted when I heard someone walking in the hall out of the door. I immediately put the letter back in the envelope, accidentally knocking a couple of books and letters off the desk, scattering a few documents on it as well, in the rush to hide the letter. Luckily I didn't knock over the empty tea cup. I was about to put the fallen items back up when I heard someone at the door and I immediately sat back up straight placing my elbows on the desk, clasping my hands together and resting my chin on them. Then the door opened revealing Kristoff, who immediately noticed the little mess at my desk's feet.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Nothing" I said "Thinking"

"You _thinking_? Why am I not surprised?" he joked walking towards me.

"Shut up" he obliged and bent down to pick up the books with the letters and putting it neatly back on my desk. "Why are you here, Kristoff?" I asked, only realizing I sounded harsh.

"I just wanted to chat with you" Then he took the letters scattered on the desk.

"Dinner is to be served in a little bit, couldn't you wait for it?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"Actually, I was hoping I could talk to you… alone" he then was about to get the letter from King Theodore

"No!" I said a little too loudly and quickly putting a hand on it. He looked at me weirdly. I gave him an awkward smile and patted the envelope with my other hand "Leave it"

"Why?"

"Because I'm telling you to and I'm the Queen of Arendelle" I said, he held back a smirk "Not that it actually means anything to either you or Anna" he didn't say anything and ordered back the documents, but as soon as he was done he turned back to me trying to catch the letter, but I was faster and put my hand on it. Kristoff had a smirk on his face as he leaned down on the desk closer to my face to look at me eye to eye. There was a moment of silence.

"Tell the ice-harvesters that the royal supplies are doubled for two weeks. We are going to need a lot of ice ready for this Wednesday and we can't run out of it" I said.

"What for?" he asked straightening up in his full height.

"You don't need to know" I said and picked up the tea spoon and pointing it towards him "Do not bring a word about that letter to anyone… especially Anna" Kristoff raised an eyebrow.

"You're the _Snow Queen_ and you're threatening me with a _spoon_?"

*SBONK!*

"OOOWW!"

"That was the least I could do" I said putting down the spoon.

"Okay! I get it! Jeez!" he said massaging his cheek.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" I asked. Kristoff seemed to pale.

"I… well… I…" he took a deep breath "I wanted to ask Anna to marry me" he said. I froze for a moment.

"I-…I beg your pardon?"

"I-I wanted to ask Anna to- to marry me" he repeated "And I'm not asking for the Queen's blessing, I'm asking for _yours_ " he added. There was a moment of silence.

"You've only known each other for a month" I said

"Elsa, I'm not Hans. I'm not going to betray and hurt her like he did" he said looking straight at me with his brown eyes.

"It's not that, Kristoff. Don't you think it is a little too early?"

"Maybe it is, but I love her. I love her very much"

"I know, I can see that. But still, hoping that I'm wrong, what if things don't work out between you two? What if one day, you two find out that your… 'spark' is over?" Kristoff remained quiet for a moment "You are Anna's first love, Kristoff… and I want, more than anything, for my little sister to be happy and have her happy ending and I can see she's happy with you, but… you never know"

"Anna's my first love too" he said "and I want her to be my last"

"More reason for you to think about what I just said"

"Since when have you become a love expert if you've never been in love?" he asked crossing his arms on his chest.

" _Female Sixth Sense_ , and _Big-Sister-Watch-Out-Third-Eye_. You wouldn't understand, plus, I'm thinking it rationally" that made him chuckle a bit. Then he looked at me with a serious face.

"Please Elsa. I- I love Anna very much and I just can't imagine myself without her" I thought about it for a moment, then I made up my mind.

"Do you _really_ love her, Kristoff?" I asked even if I already knew the answer.

"With all my heart" he answered as I expected. I nodded at him.

"Then I'll offer you a deal"

"I'm all ears"

"You can either wait some more time –which I don't think you will- and then ask her to marry you, OR you can ask her as soon as you want, _but_ you'll have to enjoy a long engagement"

"The long engagement sounds best. How much do we have to wait to get married?"

"Two years" I stated.

"A month" he countered.

"A year and a half"

"Two months"

"Ten months"

"Four months"

"Seven months. Take or leave"

"Deal" he said and we shook hands on it.

"You have my blessing, then" his face broke into a huge smile.

"Really? You don't want me to come back and ask you again?"

"Do you want me to take it back?"

"Nonono! Thank you, Elsa!" he said and before I could do anything he grabbed me by the waist lifting me up and spinning me around repeating 'thank yous', smiling happily and I couldn't help but smile myself "Thank you, so, so much! You're awesome!" he repeated again holding me up in the air, I laughed a bit at his enthusiasm.

"Put me down, Kristoff" I said with a smile patting his shoulder.

"Sure" he said putting me back down "I can't thank you enough, though. Thank you, Elsa" he said and hugged me, planting a kiss on my cheek a moment before releasing me from the hug.

"So, what are you going to say?" I asked.

"Actually… I haven't thought about it yet" he confessed scratching the back of his neck nervously.

"Why don't you practice? I could help you. Pretend I'm Anna and improvise" I suggested as I walked back to my desk and leaned on it. Kristoff shook his head with a chuckle but agreed to it.

"Anna-"

"Wait! You got to get down on your knee"

"No, I'm not getting down on my knee" I took a step towards him.

"She'll like it. She'll like to see you down on your knee" I said softly.

"I don't want it to be too cheesy"

"It won't be. Trust me, I know my sister very well. She'll like to see you down on your knee" He exhaled deeply.

"Okay, fine" he said and got to his knee.

"Much better. Okay" I said as I went to lean on my desk again, with a smile.

"Anna" he began

"Yes, Kristoff? Is there anything you need to tell me?" I said doing my best Anna impression. Causing him to chuckle.

"That impression was awful, don't make me laugh" he said composing himself again "Okay… Anna" he began "Will you… uhm…uuhh… marry me?" My smile faded.

" **No.** " Kristoff jumped back up on his feet.

"Oh, come on!"

"What do you mean _'will you_ _ **uhm uuhh**_ _marry me'_? You don't sound or look happy or excited about the prospect of spending the rest of your life with her!" he slapped his face in his hands. "Try it again. You're asking Anna to spend the rest of her life with you. You're asking her to be the only man in her life. You're telling her she'll be the only woman in yours. You're promising her a future together. At least say something to tell her how much she means to you"

"Alright" he got back to his knee and began again "Anna… so gentle and so-"

"-Yeah… _and so virtuous she appears_ " I interrupted "Why are you quoting Dante Alighieri? And more importantly: _how_ do you know him?"

"By having half a brain" he answered. I rolled my eyes "And because Anna followed your hint on giving me a little education"

"She actually listened?"

"Yup"

"Well, that's a first" he chuckled.

"Besides, I kind of like Dante" I raised an eyebrow, half between amused and impressed.

"Looks like Anna is really about to get engaged to a man of good taste" I commented.

"Thank you Elsa. How come you're being so nice to me today?" he replied with a smirk.

"Don't get used to it and don't tell Anna I just let you hug me and kiss my cheek or I'll use the spoon"

"And I believe you. Let's try the proposal again" he said, cleared his throat and took my hand "Anna, my love, my sweet, my soulmate, my one and only, my beautiful love. You're my Juliet to my Romeo, you're my Ophelia to my Hamlet, my Isolde to my Tristan-"

"-Okay, no" I interrupted again.

"What now?"

"First, that was extremely too cheesy and _so_ rehearsed. Second, Anna is going to die of boredom like I was. Third, you're making a proposal, not reading an address book! And fourth, you really have no idea what happened to these couples, right?"

"Uhm… well, they're famous lovers so I guess...they get married and have kids?"

"Romeo and Juliet kill themselves"

"Oh…"

"Ophelia and Hamlet die"

"Uhm…"

"Tristan dies due to a wound and Isolde dies of pain because of his death"

"Oh, my God" he complained exhaustedly "This is going to take a while, is it?" he said letting go of my hand. I was about to answer when there was a knock on the door which made Kristoff stand back up.

"Your Majesty, may I come in?" said Kai from out the door.

"Yes, sure" I answered. Kai's head stuck out of the doorway he gave both me and Kristoff a little bow with his head. "I just wanted to inform you that dinner will be served in 5 minutes"

"Thank you, Kai. We'll be right down" I answered. He nodded his head and walked away. Kristoff and I shared a glance, then we made our way to the dining room.  
At dinner, Anna was talking non-stop since the moment she came into the room. Kristoff seemed to be listening to her and participating. I remained silent for the whole time, thinking about how to break the news to Anna. We were already eating dessert and I was so deep in thought that I didn't notice Anna was calling me until she hit me in the forehead with something.

"What?" I asked coming back to Earth.

"Finally! I called you three times already" Anna complained. I looked down on the tabled and noticed the small chocolate ball and picked it up between my index and thumb.

"Did you just hit me with a chocolate ball from your dessert?"

"Yes, I did"

"Oh, thank you!" I said and ate it. Anna's blue eyes widened.

"That was mine!"

"Sorry, you threw it at me" I said nonchalantly. Anna pouted.

"Seriously, though" she began "What's wrong? You haven't spoken since you got here"

"Nothing. What makes you think there's something wrong?"… the way I said it sound just like: _Hey Anna, I'm hiding something!_

"You're staring blankly to your right. It's something you do every time you're in deep thought about something that makes you nervous" I blushed sheepishly.

"Oh… I didn't notice"

"So, what's up?" Anna asked taking a spoonful of her dessert.

"Yeah" said Kristoff "Even in your study you were all weird about a- aaahh…" he slurred interrupting himself as I nonchalantly raised my spoon, so he could clearly see it, reminding him of earlier "Something" he ended instead of saying 'an envelope'. I gave him an ever so small smirk that only Kristoff managed to see.

"So?" said Anna expectantly. _Alright, make or break._

"I was just thinking… uhm…" I began. I felt Anna's eyes on me as she waited "I was just thinking about what happened last month and… I thought about Hans and… well… I was wondering how you would react if he showed up again one day" _Nice. Really smooth, Elsa…_ Anna raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously? That's it?" she said "Well, I'd probably be the first to tell you to freeze his butt and kick him out" _Okay… this is not good._ "I think I'd probably punch him again. Kristoff, in a scale from 1 to 10 how much do you like Hans?"

"-100?" the blonde man suggested "If he showed up again I'd be my pleasure to teach him a lesson"

"Good answer" _Definitely not good._ "I wonder what punishment he was given in his trial"

"About that…" I butted in, awkwardly "What if –hypothetically speaking- he didn't have his trial yet?"

"Huh?" was Anna's remark

"I mean –hypothetically- what if he didn't have his trial yet? Because… I don't know… the king had other urgent matters to attend to, and according to the hypothetical law both Arendelle and the Southern Isles share, a law that declares that he needs to have his trial in the kingdom he committed his crime in…" Anna and Kristoff listened intently " and according to this hypothetical situation-"

"Elsa, why are you even thinking that? I mean, why would you waste your time thinking what I would do: if Hans came back, if he didn't have his trial yet, if that's because the king couldn't deal with him because of urgent matters etc.? I mean, it does make sense but-" she abruptly stopped talking dropping her hand on the table as realization hit her "Hans is coming back to have his trial, isn't he?" I gave her a weak apologetic smile nodding my head. "When is he coming?"

"In four days"

"Four days… great" she said sarcastically

"Try not to think about it too much"

"Wait! You're not serious, are you? This is an early April Fool's Day" Kristoff said.

"No, she's serious" Anna said. He covered his face with his hands exasperated

"I can't believe it"

"Neither can I" Anna and I said in unison.

"Does this have to do with doubling the ice supplies?" he asked again.

"Yes, the noblemen and noblewomen that were here during the Thaw are coming for Hans' trial as witnesses" Kristoff nodded. I turned my attention to Anna who had found a certain interest in her dessert.

"Anna, I know you're angry at him" I began

"Oh, I'm more that angry at him. I loathe him" she said.

"You're not the only one. Anyway, you do know that at the end of the trial it's up to us to sentence him, right?"

"Yeah? Well, actually it's up to you, you're the queen but we're in this together aren't we?"

"Yes, we are. But I just need to ask you a favor, that King Theodore asked me and I'm trying my best to prepare myself on restraining my powers from freezing him when he gets here"

"Okay, shoot"

"Don't let your resentment for him get the best of you" I said "We need to be fair, and to be fair, we have to treat him like we would treat any other criminal: like a person we don't personally know" Anna took a deep breath.

"How am I supposed to do that? After all he did to us"

"I don't know. Just… treat him like a stranger in court and don't strangle him or beat him up with Kristoff outside"

"I'll try… but I'm not promising anything"

"Neither am I" Kristoff added. After that we ate our dessert in silence.

I was in deep sleep when I felt someone shaking me slightly. I grunted sleepily as I was slowly waking up.

"Elsa" I heard Anna's voice call me softly. I turned around to face her. She was in her green nightgown, with her long red hair loose instead of in her signature braids. "Elsa, may I talk to you for a moment?" I slightly opened an eye looking at her then at the clock on the wall behind her.

"Anna, it's 3 a.m." I complained closing my eyes "Don't you know about the _'3a.m. wake up tradition'_?"

"Uhm… no…What's the tradition?"

"Telling you to buzz off" I could feel her glaring at me. I peeked at her through my half closed eyelids "What is it?" I asked closing my eyes again

"I… ehm…" she stuttered "I couldn't shake the idea of Hans coming back out mind… I… I had a nightmare" she paused. I slowly opened my eyes completely and looked at her. Anna was looking at her hands uneasily. I already knew what she had dreamt about: Hans leaving her to die and Hans raising his sword to kill me.

"Would you like to sleep here with me?" I suggested sitting up.

"Really? May I?" she asked hopefully. I smiled and raised the covers.

"Come on" I said. Anna smiled and jumped on the bed sliding under the covers as put them back on us. I laid down putting my arm under Anna's head as she used my shoulder as a pillow, snuggling to my side hugging my waist as I stroked her upper arm with my hand.

"This is nice" she said "I missed it"

"Me too" I said softly. There was a moment of silence.

"Elsa?"

"Hm?"

"Why did you shut me out all of a sudden?" she asked suddenly. I inhaled deeply

"Does it matter now?"

"Not really, but… I think I have the right to know" she said. Arguing would have been stupid, but I knew this was going to come up, sooner or later.

"You do…" I paused and looked at Anna who's big blue eyes were wide open, waiting for me to talk "When we were younger, you actually used to know about my powers. We would go into the ballroom and you would ask me to do the magic so we could play and build snowmen. One night though, you came to me asking me to come play" I paused as memories of that night came back. Anna listened intently "We went to the ballroom as usual and as usual you asked me to do the magic, so I did. Everything was going fine, we were having fun, we built Olaf for the first time. We were sliding down a pile of snow and you flew into one, then started jumping and I would have caught you by creating other blocks of snow under your feet, but every block was getting higher and higher. I suddenly slipped on the ice and when I saw you jumping, I just tried to reach out but I accidentally, shot you and hit you. That's how you got that white streak in your hair" I confessed. Anna's mouth was slightly opened at the news. "Anna, you were so cold… Mama and Papa immediately brought you to Pabbie and he removed all your memories of my magic, replacing them with memories of us during the winter. I shut you out because I wanted to protect you. I never wanted to leave you. You have no idea how hard it has been for me to hear you every day knocking on my door asking me to come out and play. You have no idea how much I wanted to come out, to hug you, to play with you, to be there for you when our parents died. But I just couldn't. I…" I paused taking a deep breath "I didn't want to hurt you again… but I did and not just by freezing your heart. I… I'm so sorry, Anna" She remained silent. I was expecting her to let go of me, to walk away from me, but she surprised me. Anna leaned up and kissed me on the cheek.

"Well, now I know that my streak doesn't come from being kissed by a troll" she said smiling and rested her head on my shoulder again.

"You're not upset?" I asked genuinely surprised.

"Why should I be? You're my sister, you would never hurt me intentionally. During the winter I never once doubted you, I knew you could thaw it. I knew you weren't a monster" she said.

"Oh, I love you, Anna" I said kissing her forehead.

"I love you too… does that mean I can borrow your clothes some time?"

"No"

"Oh, come on!"

"Maybe"

"Okay, I can live with that" she said satisfied. We both closed our eyes. I was about to drift into sleep when Anna spoke up again. "What are we going to do with Hans?" she asked. I sighed.

"I don't know. We'll have to wait for the trial and decide then"

"One thing's for sure… we can't have him executed for two reasons: A) You revoked that law and B) We both know no one deserves to die, not even him" _And not just for that…_ I thought.

"When have you gotten so wise, Anna?"

"Maybe you're rubbing it off on me" we both laughed softly.

"Well, that's good. But when he comes here, just… just try not to fly in rage. Believe me, I'm still having a hard time taking the news in as well"

"You can't do anything for not having him here?"

"King Theodore already summoned here all the other aristocrats who attended my coronation, I can't just send them away"

"Well, that was rude. He should have asked you first"

"Agreed. Now let's get some sleep" I said Anna remained silent. I was about to drift into sleep when Anna spoke up again.

"Elsa?"

"Annaaaa… I want to sleep" I complained

"One last thing" she pleaded. I didn't even bother to open my eyes.

"What?"

"Can we move in together again?" I opened my eyes, turned my head and looked at her. She was staring at me with hopeful eyes. "Move in as in sharing the room again. I missed this, I missed the times when I would sneak into your bed, or you would do that, I missed our night talks and… it's quiet difficult having night conversations in separate rooms" I turned my head back on the other side to hide the smile that was slowly forming on my lips.

"You're not supposed to have night conversations, you're supposed to sleep"

"Please Elsa? At least until one of us gets married" she suggested. At the word 'married' Kristoff immediately popped into my mind. _Well, we made a deal. I guess I could share my room with my little sister for seven months._ I turned my head back to her and smiled.

"Of course" I said. Anna's smile couldn't get any wider.

"You're awesome!" she said as she practically jumped on me and attacked my cheek with kisses joyfully, as I wrapped my arms around her in a hug.

"Okay, okay! I get it, you're happy about it!"

"Yes, I am!"

"Although, you probably want to share the room just to borrow my clothes and shoes"

"Oh, man! That was supposed to be my little secret!" she joked.

"Now, seriously, get off of me and let's get some sleep"

"Okay" she said and assumed her earlier position, using my shoulder as a pillow and hugging my waist "Goodnight, Elsa. Love you"

"Goodnight, Anna. Love you too" I saw Anna close her eyes before turning my head on the other side and closing my eyes. I then felt Anna's hand moving up from my waist to the base of my neck and pulling me closer to her. I turned my head towards her in surprise, but she was already asleep with a content smile on her face. I couldn't do anything but feel a small smile on my lips. I place a small kiss on the top of Anna's head and closed my eyes to finally drift into sleep.

* * *

 **And there you have Chapter 1! Again, I apologize if the style sucks here, it will for a few chapters more, but as I said, I've been working on this for 2 YEARS!  
I have to give you another warning: BE PATIENT! This story is kind of complicated, so everything comes on its own time.  
What do you think of this first chapter? I really hope you're going to like this story!  
REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!  
**

 **See you next chapter! (on Friday!) ;-)**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	2. The Arrival

**Anna's POV:**

Hans is arriving today… today… WHY TODAY?! How come 4 days pass so quickly?! Could he come in two weeks? A month? A year? **_NEVER_**?! I just don't want to see his face ever again! Is that too much to ask?! Anyway, that day, the aristocrats were coming and Elsa and I had to officially greet them. I admit I was kind of excited every time I went out to town. I liked walking among my people, I loved to see the smiles on their faces, the kids playing around, especially the kids. They would mostly come greet me and give me a little flower or talk to me and Elsa… Elsa… who would have thought she had a way with kids? Every single one of them loved her and always asked her to do her magic and even if their mothers would scold them telling them not to bother the queen, she would just smile telling them it was fine and did the magic. While the little girls would come to us, little boys always went to Kristoff. The people actually love him and young boys would always go to him as he was known as _'The Mountain Man who helped save Arendelle'_. He had now a sort of small town hero reputation other than, well… the Princess' partner, to make it sound formal. Anyway, the aristocrats wouldn't be here for the next couple of hours or so, so Elsa, Kristoff, and I were walking around town while waiting for them to come. It was Friday, but for some reason Elsa gave Kristoff some sort of sepecial permission, so that he didn't have to go to the mountains today. I was waltzing down the streets, happily looking around and talking to people when I lost sight of Kristoff and Elsa, when I found them, I saw them talking in front of a shop. I walked towards them but didn't make out what they were saying because of the noise. When I got close enough I managed to catch something.

"… good job, Kristoff" Elsa said raising her hand to pat him on the shoulder, slightly opening her arms.

"Thanks" he said lowering with his arms open when Elsa abruptly leaned back raising her hands in surrender and Kristoff mimicked her gesture with a confused face. Maybe I'm imagining things, but it looked like she pulled back when she saw me… or maybe she just won't let Kristoff hug her to keep up the Protective-Big-Sister façade. Whatever.

"What do you think you're doing?" she said glaring at him.

"Uhm… I-I thought you were going for a hug" he replied

" _Nooo_ " Elsa replied slowly lowering her hands as my boyfriend did the same. I let out a small laugh.

"You two look like an old couple of in-laws" I commented. Kristoff and Elsa let out a laugh that looked kind of like… nervous? _Oh, whatever_.

"I don't get it. Why can't I hug you?" Kristoff complained.

"Because I'm the Queen of Arendelle and I'm not allowing you to, plus, you're my little sister's boyfriend. It's my job to give you a hard time" Elsa replied.

"I can give you a hug if you want, Kristoff" I said opening my arms for him.

"But I want a hug from the queen!" Silence. I then dramatically sniffed and pretended to cry as I went to Elsa who had her arms opened for me and was trying hard not to laugh as I theatrically 'cried', burring my face in the crook of her neck.

"Now look what you've done!" Elsa said playing along hugging me.

"But I just wanted a hug from the queen! You never hug me!"

"If you want to be hugged so much, hug your girlfriend!" she replied. I laughed for real this time and so did Kristoff. I got out of Elsa's embrace and went to hug Kristoff as he planted a kiss on my cheek.

"Anna, Kristoff and I have some uhm… _business_ to attend to" Elsa said eyeing Kristoff.

"Oh, right! Yeah! Uhm… _business_ " he said.

"But it's a special Friday! Kristoff has time off!" I complained.

"Sorry. We could do this later, but Kristoff insisted on doing it _as soon as possible_ " Elsa said giving him a look.

"Well, I insisted because it is important" he answered giving her the same look.

"What kind of business is it?" I asked

"Some boring… _ice harvesting and delivering_ stuff that could be _delayed"_ Elsa said not taking her eyes off of Kristoff

"Yes, boring _ice harvesting and delivering_ stuff that _can't_ be delayed for me" he replied not breaking eye contact with her. I looked between them suspiciously. _There's something fishy going on here._

"Excuse me, you two" I said slowly "What are those 'plotting faces'?"

" _Plotting faces_? What 'plotting faces'?" Kristoff said.

" _Your_ 'plotting faces'" I accused pointing at them.

"Just your imagination, sweetheart" _He's hiding something. He never calls me that unless he's hiding something, like the surprise party he and Elsa organized for my 18_ _th_ _birthday._

"Don't you _'sweetheart'_ me. What are you two hiding, Bjorman?" I used his last name to let him know he's in trouble.

"Nothing!" he said a little too quickly.

"Yes, you are!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Anna, dear" _Okay, there is definitely something going on. Elsa calls me 'dear' only when she's either stressed out, which is not the case or she's hiding something._ "Kristoff and I have stuff to do, would you mind to go check if any of the aristocrats are here yet?" she said turning me around and pushing me away.

"Yes, I do mind" I replied.

"No, you don't. Go check"

"They won't be here for at least the next two hours"

"Then do what you're best at"

"And that is?"

"Waltz around, sing, make friends, try not to make a mess and come back at least in an hour"

"Half an hour"

"Fine. Just find something to do"

"But I want to know what you two are doing! I could help"

"NO!" both her and Kristoff shouted

"Calm down! Don't get all on the defensive, Jeez"

"Just go around town, Anna"

"Please?"

"No"

"Pretty please?"

"No"

"Pretty please with cherry on top?" I said giving her my best puppy dog eyes.

"No, nice try though"

"Oh, come on! I want to come with you!"

"Anna, go somewhere and find something to do before I freeze your royal behind"

"You wouldn't"

"Try me" she said as her hand glowed with an ice blue color as the magic flowed to her hand. Her face impassive _… hm… okay… maybe I should drop this_.

"You know, I think I'm gonna take a walk around the docks" I said.

"What a _great_ idea!" Elsa replied with a smirk.

"Well, then… see you later" I said and walked away quickly. Just as I told them, I took a walk to the docks. It was a beautiful day, the water was splendid and the sky was clear. In a moment I was lost in thoughts and remembered how I met Hans. I met him here, right after the now finished naval shop. What were we going to do with him? We couldn't execute him and we didn't want to. We could send him back to the Southern Isles and let his brothers deal with him. I was so lost in thought that I was knocked out of it when something slammed into me pushing me on a row boat that was about to fall into the sea, if it wasn't for someone who blocked it, as a piece of kelp got on my face.

"Seriously?! Again?!" I complained.

"I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" it was a tonic feminine voice. I took the kelp off my face and looked at the person who knocked me over. I looked at her and when I saw the pin with the symbol of Drakora I realized who I had bumped in… and my jaw dropped. _OH MY GOD!_ I was fan-girling in my head. She was riding a beautiful black stallion. She was tall, young, probably around Elsa's age… I think. She had tanned skin, dark auburn hair which she held in a side fish-tail braid, falling on her left shoulder, her bangs perfectly swept on the side. Even though it was well covered by her bangs, I still noticed something that looked like a small scar, cutting on the corner of her left eyebrow. Then I finally saw them, her famous eyes which were of a stunning piercing grey color. I've never seen eyes like that before.

"H-hi" I said shyly "N-no. I-I'm fine"

"You sure?" she asked dismounting her horse and getting on the boat. She was not wearing a dress. Instead, she had some sort of military uniform. It was a mid-thigh length black jacket with silverish-white braidings, she had a dark leather belt that showed off her slim waist, with a sword attached to it. White skinny trousers and black leather boots that went just under her knee.

"Yeah, yeah! I-I wasn't l-looking where I was going b-but- yeah!- I'm great, actually"

"Oh, that's nice to hear" she said holding out her hand for me with a bright smile. She looked somehow familiar, though and I'm pretty sure we haven't met before. Her smile was familiar. I was still sitting there in awe, not believing who was standing in front of me and was holding out her hand for me. I shook my head knocking myself out of my trance and took her hand as she helped me up.

"Th-thank you" I said letting go of her hand. _Why am I stuttering?! I'm making such a fool of myself!_

"No problem" her smile never left her face. _She is probably used to this kind of reactions._ Well, but even if she was used to it, she introduced herself.

"Queen Skylynn I of Drakora" she said with a small bow of the head.

"Oh! Princess Anna of Arendelle" I said with a curtsy.

"The Princess? Milady" she said bowing. I didn't have the time to feel uncomfortable as Queen Skylynn – and may I repeat, _QUEEN FREAKING SKYLYNN!-_ bowed to me - _ME!-_ that her horse bowed as well making the boat tilt towards the water making us lose our balance. One moment I was standing, the other I was clinging on Queen Skylynn's jacket, in an attempt not to fall down, when the boat came to a halt, while she had managed to grab the edges of the boat.

"Oh, hi! Me again" I awkwardly said. _Seriously! This again?! First with Hans and now with the queen of Drakora?!_

"Hi" then the boat abruptly tilted back as the black horse steadily put his hoof on it, and I found myself flying onto the queen. "Black!" she scolded glaring at her horse.

"This is awkward" I said getting off of her "Not that _you're_ awkward! I mean I- thi- this is awkward- I'm awkward… you're my idol- wait- _what_?!" _Nice! Way to make yourself look like an idiot!_ She smiled instead and helped me up again.

"I'd like to formally apologize for hitting the Princess of Arendelle with my horse" _please, don't end it just like him_ "and… for every moment after" _She did._

"No, no, no! Don't worry about it! I'm not _that_ kind of princess! If you had hit my sister Elsa, a month ago, it would have been –yeeesh- 'cause, you know…"

"Yes, stories from Arendelle do reach Drakora, we're not _that_ far, after all" she said with a small laugh as we both got off of the row boat.

"And so do the stories from Drakora reach Arendelle" then I couldn't contain myself anymore "I heard so much about you! All of your adventures! What you did during the Revolution! You're awesome! I'm a huge fan of yours!" she laughed again.

"Why, thank you. I'm honored"

"I still can't believe you're _actually_ **_here_**! What do we owe this visit for?" her face darkened for a moment.

"About that… where can I find Queen Elsa?" she asked.

"Oh! I'll take you to her! She's here in town, we were waiting for the other aristocrats to come! Come with me!" I said, grabbed her hand as she grabbed her horse's reins, following me. Then I realized what I just did and let go of her hand. "Oops! Sorry- I- I just- well-"

"It's fine. No need to apologize. You're actually the first person who reacts like this"

"WHAT?! Really?!"

"Yeah. In my kingdom, part of my people treat me like an old friend, both commoners and middle class, the latter maybe because most of them used to be peasants. The aristocracy… well, the nobles in my country have mixed feelings for me" she said as we walked through town.

"Oh… why is that? Didn't most of them fight with you during the revolution?"

"Keyword: 'most'" as we walked, I noticed a lot of people looking our way in awe as everyone recognized the Queen "Plus, you said you heard so much about me. I suppose you know the story"

"Of course! You are the heroine of the Drakorian Revolution! You're the commoner girl who helped King Landon regain the throne after his uncle stole it from him and in the meantime in you two fell in love and got married as soon as the rebellion was over, which -by the way- it's just _sooo_ romantic! I heard all about how he didn't want you in his army because you were a girl and of when you saved his life during the camp assault. That was the day he let you in the army. Or the way you brilliantly passed all the tests for the new recruits. Or how you prevented King Landon to fall into his uncle's trap by attaching torches to the bulls' horns and sending out the bulls. The bulls were needed to move the assault tower, but you used them to reveal the trap and won the battle. I also heard of all your solo missions. King Landon had forbidden you to assault the palace, but you still did and stole all the money from the exaggerated taxes King Hugh imposed and gave them back to the people. Or when you took an arrow for King Landon! That was so brave of you! I also heard about what you did when you managed to uncover a scheme against the King , or when you locked up King Landon in his room and took his place in the duel against his uncle because he was wounded and couldn't fight, even though he didn't want you to! Or of how you spared Hugh's life in that duel because you knew, it wasn't your fight, but King Landon's! Don't even get me started on the sea battles you engaged! Like when- umpf!"

"OKAY! Okay! I get it!" she said putting a hand on my mouth to stop me from talking "You do know a lot about the revolution" she said taking her hand off of my mouth. I rubbed my neck embarrassed.

"Sorry. My sister keeps telling me that I talk too much, especially about your adventures" I said blushing from the slight embarrassment.

"I don't know if you can exactly call them adventures; I'd say the whole revolution has been an adventure"

"Still, you did all those things and even after two years people still talk about it. You were amazing!"

"It was my duty and…" I looked at her expectantly, but she seemed to change her mind on what she was about to say "It's a long story" she concluded. I didn't push it. She clearly didn't want to talk about it.

"I suppose King Landon is here somewhere, right?" her face suddenly darkened.

"No, I came alone"

"He had to stay behind because of royal duties, right?" She was about to answer when I heard someone calling me. I looked towards where the voices were coming and saw Elsa with Kristoff, calling me "My sister is right there! Come, your Majesty! I'll introduce her to you" I said and ran to Elsa while Queen Skylynn followed behind me, walking next to her horse.

 **Elsa's POV:**

I had finally managed to send Anna away, so Kristoff and I could get down to business. As soon as we made sure she was gone, we got inside the jewelry store and, of course, as soon as the shop-keeper saw me and Kristoff looking for a ring… he immediately understood why we were there. It was a good thing the people knew Kristoff and knew he was in a relationship with Anna, at least there weren't any misunderstandings when they saw me and Kristoff like _'Oh, look! The Queen has found a suitor!'_ or _'Oh, my goodness! Our Queen is being courted!'_ things like that. Anyway, Kristoff had seen the perfect ring for Anna. It was a beautiful gold band with a small diamond. Simple but elegant and appropriate and Kristoff had saved just enough to buy it. Anna was going to love it. While Kristoff took care of the ring, I looked around standing next to him.

"Elsa" Kristoff called.

"Hm?"

"Give me a hand"

"I _am_ giving you a hand" He laughed.

"No, I meant literally. I need your hand for the size" he said.

"Oh! Okay, sorry" I said, blushing embarrassed… he noticed.

"You're blushing"

"No, I'm not!"

"You are"

"No!"

"Aw, you're not a total icicle, then"

"Just give me the ring" I said ignoring the pun. He chuckled and handed it to me. I slipped it on my left ring finger and took a look at it.

"So?" he asked. I slipped the ring back off.

"It's a bit loose on me and Anna's hands are just a tiny bit smaller than mine" I said

"So… one size less or does it just need to be tightened a bit?" he asked.

"Let's try one size less" I said. Kristoff got back to the shop keeper and asked for the same ring but a size less. I walked to Kristoff and the shop-keeper handed us the ring. I tried it on and it didn't fit "No, this size doesn't fit" I said.

"Would you like me to tighten the other one?" the man asked.

"Yes, thank you" Kristoff said.

"How much?" the shop-keeper asked. Kristoff looked at me for the answer.

"Just a little bit will do" I said.

"Perfect. You can come back tomorrow and it will be ready"

"Thank you very much" Kristoff said smiling.

"Thank you, goodbye sir" I said. He gave me a quick bow.

"Thank you for coming, your Majesty" he said "And good luck, Mr. Bjorman" Kristoff thanked him back and we got out of the shop. We walked a bit further while waiting for Anna. I asked Kristoff if he had figured out a way to propose and he said he was still working on it. We talked a bit about how he was going to ask Anna, but then I looked at the town's clock tower and saw the time. Luckily for me Anna appeared, and she seemed to be looking for me.

 **Anna's POV:**

"Elsa!" I called failing to hold back my excitement

"Anna, we need to go. The nobles will be here shortly" Elsa said. I ran to her, leaving Queen Skylynn to slowly follow me.

"You two won't believe who's here" I said enthusiastically.

"Hans is here already?!"

"NO! It's so much better that that!"

"Queen Skylynn of Drakora?" Kristoff guessed with a side smile teasingly. I nodded my head jumping up and down. "Seriously? She's here?" he said with his eyes wide.

"Really?!" Elsa said not believing her ears. She was quite a fan of her too. There certainly was admiration for her.

"YEEES!" I squealed "She's right there. Queen Skylynn!" I called walking back towards the Queen and walked her to my sister and my boyfriend, who still had their jaws hanging open.

"Queen Skylynn, this is my sister, Queen Elsa I of Arendelle" Elsa bowed her head and curtsied.

"Queen Elsa, may I present: Queen Skylynn I of Drakora" I introduced.

"Your Majesty" Queen Skylynn greeted bowing.

"And this is my boy- I mean- partner Kristoff Bjorman, our official Ice Master and Deliverer " I introduced.

"Your Majesty" he greeted bowing. The young queen gave him a small bow with her head.

"Queen Skylynn" Elsa said "We certainly weren't expecting you. I believe, I should have known you were coming, since -well- your reputation precedes you"

"I could say the same thing about you, Queen Elsa of Arendelle… or should I say _Snow Queen_?" Elsa seemed to be taken aback by surprise.

"I didn't think news would travel this fast, or were you present at my coronation? I hope I didn't miss you"

"No, you didn't. I didn't get the pleasure to come. My people needed me" Elsa nodded her head.

"I understand completely"

"We have kind of felt the effects of the Great Thaw"

"Really? How?"

"Very late ship trades" Elsa lowered her gaze.

"I apologize. I hope it didn't make too much damage, considering the Revolution"

"No damage was made, your Majesty. Actually Drakora is doing well, our economy is good, we're rebuilding our kingdom, my people is happy and we're at peace"

"That's very nice to hear" Elsa said with a small smile "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, Queen Skylynn? I see you have a couple of bags on the saddle, how long are you staying?"

"I'll be staying for a while, I'm not sure how long though. I hope I'm not a burden, especially since I came here unannounced"

"No, of course! That won't be a problem"

"Great! And…" The grey eyed queen looked around her as if making sure no one was around and took a step closer to Elsa. It was just then I realized how tall she actually was; I with my height, I reached Elsa's eye level, and Elsa reached Queen Skylynn's eye level, and we both had at least 2 inch heels… her boots had none! She must have been something like 5'8" or something. "I actually wanted to talk about the reason of my visit with you and Princess Anna, but privately" she said with a serious look. Elsa nodded, a look of agreement flashed through their eyes.

"Very well" Elsa said not losing her regal composure "As soon as we're back I'll send someone to call for you. Kristoff, please escort Queen Skylynn to the castle adn when when you get there tell Kai to show her to her room and our stable boy to take care of her horse"

"Yes, ma'am!" he said trying to hold back his clear enthusiasm. I looked towards Queen Skylynn's black stallion. It was a beautiful animal, with a pure black shiny coat, main and tail and long-limbed muscular legs. It looked very fast and agile.

"What's your horse's name?" I blurted out before thinking.

"Anna!" Elsa scolded sending me a look… oops!

"It's fine, your Majesty" the other queen said "This is Black Beauty, he's been my companion since I turned fifteen and yes, I did name him after the book" she said patting the horse's neck. The horse whinnied in content as she stroke his shiny black main.

"That's a cute name" I said. Elsa smiled a bit.

"We'll see you later" she said and turned to me "Anna, we must go" Elsa said. I nodded.

"Until later, your Majesty" Queen Skylynn said with a nod of the head "Your Highness" she said nodding her head towards me.

"I'll show you to the castle" Kristoff said as they walked away. I could sense the excitement in his voice, I didn't know he was a fan of her too. You could see it in his eyes that he still couldn't believe he had the heroine of the Drakonian Revolution just less than three feet away.

"Why did Kristoff get to show her to the castle and not me?" I complained.

"Because-"

"I met her first!"

"Anna-"

"In fact, _I_ introduced you to her!"

"Anna…-"

"Elsa, I'm serious! She's a living legend! You know how much of a fan of her I am! It's a dream come true!"

"One simple reason" Elsa said holding up a finger "We have to greet the aristocrats. _Both_ of us"

"Why? I didn't get that. You're the queen. Wasn't my job just to help you during the trial?"

"Last time I checked, Hans was _your_ ex-fiancé, not mine" my face fell.

"Point taken" Elsa gave me a small smile and we kept walking towards the docks. I pouted all the way there. Elsa was trying to do some small talk, but I haven't forgotten her and Kristoff's plotting faces, but that was a minor thing. My idol was here and I didn't even get the chance to show her around. I only walked her to Elsa right after I managed to make a total fool of myself.

"So" Elsa started "How did you meet Queen Skylynn anyway?"

"…"

"While walking around?"

"…"

"You saw her boat at the docks?"

"…"

"Really? The silent treatment?" she complained

"…"

"Seriously! How old are you, Anna?"

"Eighteen"

"I mean mentally"

"Oh ha-ha" I said shortly. She sighed shaking her head.

"I'm wondering, how do you manage to be a mature grown up for one moment, and be a little kid the next" she said.

"…"

"I know you're not offended"

"…"

"You're not going to make me feel bad"

"…"

"Okay, fine! I stole your chocolate" _Nice try._

"…"

"And I froze your rose dress" _I'm not gonna fall for it… better check that out later_

"…"

"And I robbed a bank" _Really?_

"…"

"And killed a guard while I was at it" _Really? You wouldn't hurt a fly_

"…"

"I'm pregnant" _Yeah, right… with what boyfriend?_

"…"

"Kristoff's the father"

"WHAAAAT?!"

"That finally got you to talk!" she said with a laugh. I shoved her arm.

"Not funny, Elsa!"

"Actually it is" I pouted crossing my arms.

"…"

"Oh, come on, Anna! Stop being a baby! Queen Skylynn is staying as a guest! You've got all the time to go have a chat with her, Jeez!" Elsa said clearly irritated.

"It's not just that"

"What else?" I gave her a look she immediately understood "Mind your own business!"

"Well, considering the you and my boyfriend are having private talks, eye conversations and some secret business you won't tell me about, I think it kind of is my business"

"Well, it's not"

"It's a good thing I trust you both, because you two could be having an affair for all I know"

"Oh Gee, thanks for ruining the surprise!"

"WHAT?!"

"I'm kidding! Gosh! Seriously Anna, _me_ having an affair with _Kristoff_?! Out of all people? Really? Plus, he's not my type"

"Hey, you never told me what was your type"

"Oh, I don't know. I never thought about it, maybe tall and fair-"

"Kristoff's tall and fair"

"Too burly for my likings. He could probably break the both of us with a bear hug"

"Really? I like that about Kristoff" I said dreamingly "I love how he hugs me, he's so warm and the way he wraps his strong muscular arms around me… Every time he kisses me, he-"

"Anna!" Elsa interrupted "I really don't want to know the details" my dreamy face fell.

"Then I'll just cut saying that he makes me very happy, there. Happy?"

"I know he 'makes you very happy' and as much as I love you and I'm fond of Kristoff, I don't need or want the report of your make-out sessions, okay?" I was about to replay when we got to the docks. Most of the nobleman and women were already there. They all greeted us with bows smiles and flattering compliments. Elsa then politely greeted them back and illustrated them the plans before starting the trial and told them to head to the castle, our servants will attend them from there. We were still waiting for the Duke of Weaseltown (oh, the joy!) to come and the Prince and Princess of Corona. As they got to Arendelle, King Theodore was nowhere to be seen, so we decided on meeting him at the palace since he was the last to arrive.

We were expecting him and his brothers in the throne room along with Kristoff who finally joined us. I knew he did it because he didn't want me to meet Hans alone, although he knew I had my sister supporting me while I supported her. Elsa was standing at the top of the short stairs leading up to the throne, I was standing right beside her, the throne behind us. Then Kai finally announced them.

King Theodore… that guy wasn't _one_ man… he was six together! He was a tall, big and buff man with curly red hair and beard and brown eyes. His crown held high and regal just like his clothes. The other two… wait… three? He said there were only- whatever. There were other three men with him. One was not very tall, maybe a couple of inches taller than Queen Skylynn, but he was burly. He had red hair like the King and his red beard following his jaw line. He had dark green eyes that had something in them… I don't know, but they made me feel uncomfortable. He was walking towards us holding one of Hans' arms, the other was held by another man. He was just a bit shorter than the king, but was certainly fit and bigger than Hans. He had red hair just like the other two and big sideburns and green eyes, just like the other man, but they didn't have that _thing_ in them. The fourth man was completely different from them. He was as tall as the king, maybe an inch more, he must have been somewhere around 6'4", but unlike the king he had a lean figure. He had broad shoulders that made his body look like a perfect V, and from the way his uniform suited him he looked muscular, an athlete. He was young, not more than 22 years old, he had straight jet-black hair swept to the side, a little less messy than Kristoff's, and bright blue-greenish eyes. He was wearing a military uniform, just like Queen Skylynn, except that the jacket was red and the braidings were gold, his trousers and boots were black… handsome, none less. He also had a sword at his side and was walking right behind Hans. When I saw _him_ , I was torn between anger and pity.

 **Elsa's POV:**

Hans looked awful. He tried to stand tall, but I could see he was clearly in pain even if his head was held down. His auburn hair had grown over the month and was messy and dirty, his once perfect sideburns gone and replaced with at least a messy unkept stubble. His regal clothes replaced with a loose neck dirty white shirt that got just past his hips and dark brown trousers tucked in his black commoner boots. The shirt was ripped at the neck and at the edge. His trousers, with holes on his knees and maybe dirty with coal. He had a rope circling his waist as a belt. He also had a loose brown jacket that was dirty with coal and was ripped on the shoulder and had a hole at the elbows. Basically he looked like a peasant in misery, not a prince. He didn't look too well either. I admit, I actually felt concerned about his health. The limp in his leg didn't help, nor did the bandage on his right hand, or the bruise right above his left eye or the fact that his rawboned face gave off the fact that he had lost weight... too much weight and too quickly. As soon as they stood in front of us, King Theodore bowed in respect.

"Queen Elsa, Princess Anna. Let me formally introduce ourselves" he began "I'm King Theodore IV of the Southern Isles. These are my brothers Prince Gordon" he said as the shorter buff man with creepy green eyes gave us a bow holding forcefully Hans' arm "and Prince Herbert" the other man imitated his brother. "And this man" he said indicating the young raven haired man "Is General Storm Ryder, Admiral of our Navy and the best soldier of the Southern Isles" he said "General Ryder insisted to accompany us to keep a better eye on Hans"

"Thank you for the concern, General" I said to General Ryder.

"Duty, your Grace" he answered with a nod of the head. Anna then took the chance to formally introduce Kristoff who bowed to the royals and the General in front of us.

"Bow, Hans" the King told him. Hans didn't open his mouth, but he kept his head down and stood still

"He said 'bow'" said Prince Gordon. Hans didn't move or mutter a word. "Are you deaf?! Bow!" he ordered slapping forcefully his hand on his back. Hans didn't move but his face said he was in visible pain. Prince Gordon grabbed him behind his neck with such force we heard a smack as soon as he grabbed him and pushed him down as Prince Herbert used his leg to bend his knee and make him forcefully kneel.

"You bow in front of the Queen and the Princess, you filthy scumbag!" Prince Herbert spat.

"Don't treat him like that!" I said horrified.

"What?" the two princes said looking shocked at me "But he's just a low life peasant!" said Prince Gordon.

"It doesn't make a difference" I said narrowing my eyes at him "You don't treat an animal like that, let alone a person" That was when Hans lifted his head to look at us and I made the mistake to look at him in the eyes. Those emerald green orbs, the ones that once held such a blood-thirsty look in them, the eyes of a master liar, the eyes that once were bright with a calculating and analyzing look, they were now filled with partially shock, and partially something else. I didn't know what it was, but those eyes weren't empty, they were holding an emotion, something strong.

"You heard the Queen" I heard Anna snap. I was so concentrated in analyzing his eyes that I didn't hear what Prince Gordon had said "You're in _our_ home and you respect _our_ rules and we were taught that no matter what the other person did, you treat him or her with respect. Is that understood?" she said narrowing her eyes at Gordon.

"You're actually defending _tha-_ I mean- _him_?" Prince Herbert said raising an eyebrow.

"Herbert!" King Theodore scolded.

"No. I'm making a point. I don't care of how you treat your prisoners in the Isles, but you're in Arendelle now, and you stick to _our_ rules" Anna said narrowing her eyes at him.

"Is that clear enough?" I asked supporting Anna. That was one thing we agreed on.

"Of course, your Graces" he said slightly looking towards his brother.

"Anyway, what do you mean that he's just a peasant?" Kristoff asked before either me or Anna could.

"After what he did here, the only thing I had the time to do was stripping him of his title. He doesn't deserve the title of 'Prince'. Prince Herbert along with Prince Gordon, Prince August and Prince Linus took charge of him"

"A month of hard work in the coal mines wasn't enough to him, considering his snarky mouth that now is magically shut" added Gordon.

"I see" I said looking at Hans.

"I personally wanted Hans to formally apologize to you for his crimes" King Theodore said and turned to Hans "Apologize" Hans was silent "Hans, apologize" Not a word "Hans I told you to apologize. King's orders"

"I'm sorry, Queen Elsa" he muttered quietly.

"So we can hear you" Prince Gordon said gripping his shoulder. Hans flinched in pain.

"I'm sorry, Queen Elsa" Hans said louder "I'm sorry I didn't kill you when I had the chance!" he added, his stare was cold.

"Hans!" King Theodore scolded.

"You wanted me to say I was sorry?" Hans said rising to his feet "Well, I am. I'm sorry I didn't kill you when I got the chance. I'm sorry I didn't kill Anna myself, instead of leaving her to freeze. I'm sorry I didn't become King and I'm sorry that I'm not sorry at all!" he said looking at me in the eyes with that fury again. It made my heart quiver and I could feel the frost forming on my fingertips. Kristoff put a protective hand on Anna's shoulder, taking a step closer to her.

"You little piece of-" Prince Herbert was about to punch Hans when I stopped him.

"Enough!" I shouted. They all looked at me, I drifted my gaze off of Hans and towards King Theodore "Guards! Kai!" I called. The butler and two guards immediately appeared. "Kai, please show the King, the Princes and General Ryder to their rooms, and when you're done make sure the traitor is presentable for the trial. Guards, escort the ex-prince to the dungeons. The trial shall take place on Tuesday at the Juridical Palace, I'll see you then" I said directing my gaze towards King Theodore as I finished speaking. Kai obliged and escorted the royals and the General to their rooms. As the guards took him away, Hans turned around looking at me for a moment and there was that look in his eyes, the one I couldn't decipher. As soon as they were gone. Anna and I let out a breath we didn't know we were holding. Kristoff hugged Anna tightly, as I kept my eyes on the door Hans was brought through to exit, thinking intently on that look in his eyes. I then felt Anna's arms encircling my waist from behind resting her head on my shoulder.

"Are you alright?" she asked. I nodded.

"Yeah… are you alright?" I asked holding her hands on my stomach.

"Yeah…" I turned around in her arms and hugged her. We stayed silent for a moment "We need to talk with Queen Skylynn" I reminded her. Her head snapped up almost hitting mine.

"Right! How could I forget?!" Anna let go of me and walked back to Kristoff, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek "Sorry, private meeting with Queen Skylynn. I'll see you later" she said with an excited smile.

"That's okay. I'll see you at dinner" he said caressing her cheek, then he looked at me and nodded his head in salute and walked away. Anna immediately grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the stairs.

"Come on! Come on! Come on! We can't keep Queen Skylynn waiting!" she said excitedly.

"Anna! Hold on a moment!" I said trying to stop her.

"Come on, Elsa! Move it!"

"To where?" Anna stopped dead in her tracks almost making me trip on her.

"Oh, right… that slipped out of my mind" she said scratching her neck in embarrassment. I smiled.

"Gerda" I called the head maid. She and Kai were like second parents to us, they've been serving our family for years now. The maid immediately came to us waiting for orders.

"Yes, your Majesty?" she asked

"Would you please go find Queen Skylynn and tell her the Princess and I are expecting her in my study?" I asked.

"Of course, Queen Elsa" she said.

"Thank you" She gave me a small bow and walked away.

"Let's go! Let's go!" Anna said enthusiastically and dragging me to my study.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" I said laughing at her excitement. Queen Skylynn really is her heroine and to say the truth, I admired her too. I mean, she was a peasant and managed to enter an army, become Captain, then General, then _Queen,_ in a perfectly _legal_ way and not to mention all the heroic things she did during that Revolution. Her reputation surely did precede her. There were so many stories about her heroic acts that no one knew anymore which were true and which weren't. Anyway, Anna and I were waiting for her in my study, when there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" I asked.

"It's Skylynn, your Majesty"

"Come in" I said. The door opened revealing the queen still in her uniform.

"I'm glad you found some time for me" she said flashing us a smile as she closed the door behind her. That smile though… a perfect smile, but it had something familiar and it wasn't just her smile, her nose a bit too, but her smile and mouth in particular.

"It's not like every day, we have the honor of receiving a guest such as yourself"

"Please, you Majesty. I think I'm overrated. I'm not that much of a hero"

"What?! Of course you are! After all you did during the Revolution! How could you say such a thing?" Anna said shocked to hear those words.

"Everyone has their little secrets, don't they?" she said shrugging "And one of these little secrets of mine…" she said placing a hand on her hip and placing the other on a chair, leaning on it "…is the reason why I came here, _alone_ , to Arendelle. Although this shouldn't really be a secret…" she paused "but that's another story" Anna and I exchanged looks.

"So, why did you come here?" I asked.

"I have…err… _contacts_ , with the Southern Isles and… let's just say that I had a very reliable source that told me about Prince Hans' trial-"

"-Just Hans. He's been stripped of his title" I interrupted. She looked surprised.

"Oh… well, anyway" she continued shaking her head and looking back at us with her piercing grey eyes "I've been informed about Hans' trial and I also heard why he's been imprisoned" she paused for a moment "It's my fault if he did what he did"

"WHAT?!" Anna and I exclaimed shocked.

"It was my fault. I should have been there for him these past two years and I wasn't. Without noticing, I turned my back on him"

"I can't believe you. I can't really" Anna said taken aback.

"Would you mind explaining yourself better?" I said.

"Hans is not evil, I know that. I know _him_ " she said walking closer to us.

"Uhm, excuse _me_ , your Majesty, but he tried to kill us both and take over our kingdom" I said. Anna's jaw was basically on the floor.

"There is a reason why he did what he did. I know it doesn't justify him and that he deserves a punishment. I'm not saying I want you to let him off the hook, but basically I'm here to defend him at the trial. Even though I'll be the only one"

"And I wonder why that is?" I said sarcastically and slightly angry but she either ignored me or didn't hear me.

"I know Hans better than anyone" she continued "and I know he would have never done such a thing if it wasn't for a reason… a strong reason. He made a huge mistake and I want to help him make amends"

"I don't understand! Why would you want to help him?!" Anna exclaimed "You're the heroine of Drakora! You're the good guy! The one that protects the innocent, why would you help someone like him? He tried to _kill_ us!"

"And more importantly" I cut in "How do you know Hans so well?" she took a step closer to us, her grey eyes never leaving our gazes.

"The same way you have known Princess Anna" she paused with a smirk " **I'm his sister** "

* * *

 **And there you have Chapter 2! We finally found out who this Skylynn is, even though, some of you might have alrrady guessed it. I know that there are other fics where Hans has a sister, but... keep an eye on Skylynn, as you noticed, she's not your typical princess/queen. So? What do you think? What do you think of Elsa and Kristoff's interactions? Anna's fangirling? Your first thoughts on Hans and his brothers? I really hope it's keeping up your interest, 'cause it'll get a little complicated.  
**

 **Stay tuned for Chapter 3!  
See you next Friday! :-)**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	3. A Chat with the Grey Eyed Queen

**Elsa's POV:**

 _I'm his sister._

Those were the words that came out of Queen Skylynn's smirking mouth... Silence... Have you ever had a 2000 lbs of pure iron hitting your head? No? Well, me either, but it certainly felt like it did.

"No" I stated "You can't possibly be his sister"

"Well- younger half-sister, actually… but details are details" she said, nonchalantly walking towards my bookshelf looking at the books. She looked, irritatingly calm if I have to say. But immediately it hit me. That explained why she seemed so familiar! How could I be so stupid?! Her nose was just like Hans's but smaller and a bit less pointy, her mouth was the same shape as his but slightly thicker and her smile… her smile was exactly the same as his! It was like someone had taken away Hans's smile and put it on her.

"You can't be his sister!" Anna insisted "He is the youngest of thirteen sons and you two look nothing alike!"

"Anna" I said calmly as I realized she wasn't lying.

"What?" she said shocked.

"Take a better look at her" I said. Queen Skylynn stood there and gave us a side smile.

"Oh…" Anna said noticing "Oh! That explains why you looked so familiar! And also our meeting dynamics…" she muttered at the end.

"Yeah, my mother used to tell me that I looked a lot like my father, King Albert VIII, and Hans" she said as she swept her bangs back in place.

"What? But King Albert is known to have only 13 sons. No, wait- don't answer, it's too personal, I apolo-" she interrupted me though

"Oh, right!" she said laughing humorlessly "I'm the _'incident'_ , the daughter who _should have never been born_ , the _mistake_ , the _shame of the royals of the Southern Isles_. Because _I_ was born, King Albert risked his crown badly, the only smart move he did was stepping down and leaving the throne to Theodore. How stupid of me, I keep forgetting that part!" she said bitterly, anger evident in her silver eyes "To be more explicit... What's the word you use for children who are born out of wed-lock? Oh, right! It's 'illegitimate child' _or_ , and more commonly, ' _bastard_ '… little detail known only to the Southern Isles, Drakora and now you two. News of this didn't go much further simply because, the Southern Isles immediately had a new king and Drakora... well, I said aristocrats had mixed feelings, so having a bastard as a ruler doesn't really bring them honor, plus, us Drakorians aren't much fans of gossiping. You know how society works, right?" I exchanged looks with Anna. She looked just as surprised as I was.

"Why are you telling us this? Isn't it strictly confidential?"

"No, not to me" she said seriously.

"-How old does being Hans' younger sister make you, then?" Anna blurted out interrupting me. Queen Skylynn let out a small laugh.

"That makes me 18 years-old" she said with a tiny side smile. Our eyes widen.

"What?! You're my age?! You look like you're at least twenty-one like Elsa!" Anna exclaimed, voicing my thoughts and earning a stifled laugh from the grey eyed queen "And you've already been married for how long?" a flash of darkness passed through her eyes as her right hand held her left ring finger as if to play with the wed-ring, but that was when I noticed she wasn't wearing any wed-rings on her finger.

"It would have been two years" she answered finding a certain interest in the books on my shelf again.

"Wait… what do you mean _'it would have been'_?" Anna said not noticing her mood change.

"Anna" I called elbowing her slightly.

"It means that Landon is dead" she snapped harshly looking back at us. Anna gasped covering her mouth with her hands.

"I'm so sorry!" she apologized "I didn't mean to-"

"No, it's fine. You didn't know. Sorry for the harshness" she said "Anyway, back to the topic" The way her mood changed was sincerely starting to freak me out "When is the trial?" she asked as if she hadn't told us any of the things she did.

"On Tuesday at the Juridical Palace" I answered "But you can't participate in Hans' defense" I informed her, before she could ask me.

"What?"

"Hans has too much evidence against him. According to Arendelle's laws, the penalty for any crime is to be given by the monarch. My sister and I were personally involved in his crime, there would be no point in trying to prove his innocence. His trial is to help me judge him"

"Are you going to exile him? Send him back to the Isles and let King Theodore hang him if not beheaded?" she challenged, her steel eyes boring into my blue ones.

"You didn't name the 'execution', it seems like you've been informed of our law change"

"We queens have to be informed of what happens outside our kingdom, as you well know"

"I do know… anyway, as much as I resent him, I want to be objective and judge him like a stranger"

"Easier said than done" my gaze hardened as she challenged.

"We're not going to let our negative feelings towards him to get in the way" I said including Anna as well.

"Oh, really? You wanna bet?" she said surprising me by using a very informal language, but that was the least of my problems.

"Okay, hold it you two! I can feel the nasty tension in the air and it's not nice" Anna said interrupting and stepping between us, lightly pushing us apart with her hands. Queen Skylynn didn't break the challenging eye-contact and neither did I, she did though, step back.

"Am I at least allowed to participate to the trial?" she asked.

"That you are" I said.

"Very well then" she said straightening up, relaxing her shoulders. Maybe she was just trying to look more intimidating "I have just one last request"

"Which is?"

"May I see him?" she said. I was fearing that question.

"No" I said.

"With all due respect, your Majesty, I ask you to reconsider. I need to see him"

"With all due respect, Queen Skylynn, you asked for my permission, but my answer is 'No'. Now you can exit where you entered"

"Actually, I'm not quiet done, yet"

"But _I_ am" I said sharply.

"Elsa, please" Anna said snapping my attention towards her "Let her speak, you said yourself that we don't usually have guests such as herself, and I'd like to hear what else Queen Skylynn has to say" I glared at her, but she answered me with an innocent smile.

"Fine" I said and turned back towards the other queen, not before seeing Anna winking friendly at her "What else do you need to say?"

"I'd like to propose an alliance between our people" she said confidently. Now _that_ got my attention, but also made me want to slap myself for being so snappy at her.

"Oh… what kind?" I asked carefully.

"I wanted to leave that up to you" she said. _Dang it! She may be a heroine but she sure as heck enjoys to make things difficult for me!_ "We've been doing pretty well since the Revolution, we're economically more than stable and militarily well-equipped and prepared, but we're alone. The kingdoms closest to us are the Southern Isles, who have made it pretty clear they don't want to have anything to do with us Drakonians, Weselton, whom I've just cut off-"

"Let me guess why, the Duke?" Anna said with a small smile

"Exactly" I couldn't help but stifle a laugh. He was still at it. "Anyway, our other neighboring kingdom is Meintank and their king is well known for his expansion desire. Weselton is small and not a problem for us, who worries me are the Southern Isles and Meintank, here is where Arendelle comes in" I listened intently "Arendelle is big and it seems to me that even after the Thaw it's doing pretty well and most importantly, it's at the North of Meintank, while Drakora is at the South. My point is that if we unite our countries…"

"…then Meintank would be surrounded and wouldn't dare to attack either of our kingdoms" I finished.

"Exactly" she said with a smirk

"And the Southern Isles wouldn't do anything because of what happened in July. King Theodore wouldn't dare to start a war between us. He knows that being allies, if he attacks Drakora, Arendelle is going to give its support, therefore, Arendelle and the Isles would be at war" Anna said. Queen Skylynn looked at her impressed and I looked at her with eyes wide in disbelief.

"Yes, I do know something about strategy" Anna said proud of herself. I shook my head.

"So your proposal is more like a military alliance" I said turning back to her.

"My idea was that it could either be commercial or military, or it could be both"

"We help each other's kingdom by trading and sending soldiers in case of war"

"Yes"

"Deal!" Anna exclaimed.

"Hold it!" I said and turned back to Queen Skylynn "This proposal sounds far too fair to me, where's the catch?"

"No, catch. If there's one thing I've been taught is that deals need to be equal and that once you've given your word, you stick to it. You've been taught the same, I can see it in your eyes" she said "That's why I chose you as an ally and to be completely honest, I really couldn't care less about your powers, I would have made you this proposal even if you didn't have them, I didn't ask you because of that. Believe me, I've experience betrayal and treason too, and it cost so many lives…" a veil of sadness went through her eyes "I don't want my people to experience something like that again, at least while I'm alive" Her bright grey eyes stared into mine, like if they were trying to communicate something, and they did. She was telling the truth. I looked at Anna and I had to admit, that even if she rushed into things, she was right on this.

"Alright" I said. Queen Skylynn smiled and took out a paper from her jacket pocket. "You never really wanted to leave it up to me. You planned for this trading/military alliance" I said, slightly amused as I instantly knew that was the alliance paper she prepared.

"Oh, I was certainly hoping for it" she replied with a small confident side smile, as she handed me the folded paper. I opened it and read it. Anna stepped closer to me hooking her chin on my shoulder while reading. The paper said exactly what Queen Skylynn had said, not a word more, not one less. It was a perfectly fair deal "We need a witness" I said.

"Well, technically, an alliance like this one is a deal between two rulers" Anna said "I'm the Princess, I can be the wit- Oh, wait, you meant for Queen Skylynn!- Uhm…" she thought for a moment "I'll go get Princess Rapunzel. She's an honest person and a reliable ally, you can count on her. She can be your witness… now that I think of it, Corona, Arendelle and Drakora could be good allies" she said. That got me to think for a moment. Anna was right. Corona and Arendelle have been allies for years, why not adding Drakora? "Queen Skylynn, Queen Elsa, we could include Corona in the deal, it could be very productive for the three of us" Anna said taking the words right out my mouth, but she wasn't done yet "Corona's main trade is pottery, they produce steel of the best quality, therefore, the good quality pottery, especially frying pans. If I'm not wrong, your kingdom is also well known for its blacksmiths, it could be a very productive trade for you. You can supply them with your armor trading, since well… Corona's soldiers are efficient, but their armors… not really. As for trading with Arendelle…" To say Anna had taken me off guard was an understatement. I didn't think she would know so many things about our countries. I was impressed and glad she was so well informed. She was being pretty clear as she talked to Queen Skylynn and convincing, like a real business woman. I knew that Anna had this talking thing in her, but was not expecting this kind of eloquence.  
"So… what do you think?" Anna asked the other queen when she was done talking.

"I think that for being such a clumsy, hyper, chatty girl, you sure have an interesting diplomatic potential, don't you?" she said with a side smile.

"Oh… thank you… I guess" Anna said blushing and stepping closer to me, I sent her a smile.

"Anyway, the idea is perfect, but it's not possible right now"

"Why not?" I asked

"During the Revolution, King Landon's uncle's privateers assaulted some of Corona's ships - big ships- to get supplies. Too bad that they had used the rebels' flag, the official crest of Drakora" said Queen Skylynn "First I need to set things right with the monarchs, then I can start thinking about an alliance with Corona, but I appreciate the idea" I nodded.

"Alright, Anna go get Princess Rapunzel for the deal" I said

"No need, Princess Anna will be witness enough" Queen Skylynn said. Anna's blue eyes shone bright and I kind of appreciated what the other queen was doing, Anna needed to start to take care of princess duties, and this was a good start. I was surprised myself with the amount of trust she was giving Anna even if she barely knew her. We walked towards my desk, I took the quilt and signed the alliance, then I passed it to Queen Skylynn, who took the quilt in her left hand and signed, then she passed it to Anna who signed as well. Queen Skylynn took out of her pocket another paper and passed it to me. It was the copy, we signed that too and I gave it back to her while I kept the other paper.

"Tomorrow I'll make sure the existence of these papers is made public" I said.

"Very well, I'll send this to my regent to make them public in my country. I hope this alliance between our peoples endures" she said offering me her hand.

"So do I" I said and shook it "I'll see you at court" She gave me a nod of the head and did the same to Anna. Then she walked back towards the door but I couldn't help but ask.

"Queen Skylynn" I called. She had just opened the door, and turned around "I couldn't help but notice that you refer to your subjects as 'my people' or 'we'… but you're not Drakorian. How come?" She looked impassively at me in the eyes.

"One of the same reasons as Hans" she answered and walked out of the door. Anna and I remained silent for a moment taking in what just happened. Then Anna looked at me with an innocent smile and a look that clearly stated the question she was eager to ask. Then she took my arm and leaning her head on my shoulder as her smile got wider. I rolled my eyes playfully.

"Go" I said holding back a smile. Anna started jumping up and down holding back a squeal.

"Thankyouthatyouthankyou! Thank you!" she said excitedly, kissed my cheek a couple of times and ran out of the study faster than a cheetah. As Anna left, I went to my room (luckily meeting Kai on the way, so I asked him to make sure the alliance with Drakora was made public) and as I got there, I laid on my bed staring at the ceiling. I needed some time to think about the conversation I just had with Queen Skylynn. She sure did resemble Hans in some features, they couldn't have not been somehow related. But it was kind of a lot to take in and I still had some unanswered questions. It's not like I didn't let Queen Skylynn visit Hans because I don't trust her, her past actions have proven her already… what I saw in her eyes was the thing that worried me. It was the look Anna had when she found me in my ice palace, when she was trying to convince me to come back and reassure me. It was the look of a person who believed in someone else. Anna was willing to give her life for me, and something told me that Queen Skylynn would have done the same for that man. She had some kind of hope in him and for some reason, she felt responsible for his crime, she wasn't lying. But why? What did she mean when she said she turned her back on him? I don't understand! She wants to defend him during trial, but she also wants him to be punished… it doesn't make any sense!... Okay, truth is I don't trust her, at all. But there were other things that made me think. Hans surely didn't seem to have changed, but his appearance, the way he was treated, especially from his own brothers, made me feel kind of… sorry for him. There was clearly something wrong going on. There was fury and anger in his eyes when he said those things earlier, but when he first came in, there was something else, not to mention the surprised look when I defended him and Anna supported me.  
I didn't need a trial to decide what I was _not_ going to do: Hans deserved to be punished but I was not going to exile him and not in those conditions. What did his brothers do to him, anyway? He was trying to stand tall and straight, but it looked like it pained him, that limp in his leg, the bruises, the bandaged hand, his shabby look… something was wrong, and Prince Gordon surely was creepy, I had to keep my eye on him.  
Thinking about Hans, something came to me… I was in debt with him, he had saved my life twice and that meant I had to talk to him, but not today. Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

"Come in, Anna" I said and the door opened only to reveal a blonde headed man.

"No, it's Kristoff" he said smiling "But you can pretend I'm Anna, if you prefer" he said trying to imitate Anna's voice and exaggerating her hand gestures. I laughed as he got inside the room.

"I'm wondering, are your comic exploits thought in your sleep?"

"Nope, they're as good as natural" we both laughed.

"What is it?" I asked sitting up. He came to me and immediately changed face as he started fidgeting with his fingers.

"I think I know how to ask her" he said. That got my attention.

"Take a seat and shoot" he raised an eyebrow

"You're using slang terms? Now I'm really getting worried" said with a smirk.

"Kristoff…" I said eyeing him

"Okay! Okay!" he exclaimed and sat on the bed next to me "So, here's the deal. The Autumn Festival starts next Saturday, right?"

"Right" I said.

"And you're going to the festival on the first day… right?"

"Yes…?"

"Okay, I want to ask her during the Traditional Dances" he blurted. I smiled.

"In the middle of the square. In front of the whole kingdom"

"Yeah, why? Is it bad?"

"No, not at all. I think it actually shows confidence, especially since you're not royalty"

"Problem is… I don't know when" I smiled and patted his shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure you get a moment at the dances"

"Really? How?"

"You think about proposing and I'll take care of letting you" He smiled and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Thanks, Elsa"

"No, problem" he kept his hand on my shoulder and looked at the ground like if he was thinking about something, then his head snapped back up .

"Will you still make things hard for me?" I smirked.

"Kristoff... I'm Anna's older sister… I'm never EVER going to make things easy for you, my dear soon-to-be-brother-in-law" I said standing up and bending down to look at him in the eyes " _EVER_ " I said walking towards my desk. I could sense Kristoff smirking behind me as I heard him stand up following me.

"Sooo… there's no chance that we could have a hug?" he asked. I stopped dead in my tracks. I turned around glaring at him as I saw him holding back a smile with his arms open. Then the door opened revealing Anna.

 **Anna's POV:**

I had just finished talking to Queen Skylynn. She's actually a pretty cool girl once you talk to her. She may have been kind of harsh earlier, even cocky at some point, but she is actually very nice. Anyway, after we talked, I thought about what she told me and went to see Elsa as an idea popped in my head. Did I say that we moved in together the other day? We share the room again! Anyway, as I got to the door I opened it entering the room.

"Hey, Elsa! I…uhm…" I saw Kristoff was here with his arms open and Elsa glaring at him "What's going on, now?" I asked walking closer to them

"Hi, Anna" Kristoff said smiling at me.

"Anna" Elsa said "You're status is about to go back to single" she said and marched towards Kristoff. He chuckled and ran out of the room with Elsa on his tail, ready to use her powers.

"Please, don't freeze him too much!" I shouted, then I heard a blast.

"OOOWW!"

"GO HUG SVEN!" I heard Elsa shout. I laughed shaking my head and Elsa came back into the room straightening her dress, with a satisfied look.

"Is he still in one piece?" I asked laughing.

"Unfortunately" she answered with a smile "So, how was your talk with Miss Heroine?" she asked coming towards me.

"I don't know if you'll believe me, but she was actually really nice" I said "And don't worry, I managed to restrain myself from talking non-stop" Elsa laughed slightly "But I actually wanted to talk to you about my chat with her"

"And I wonder why?" she said taking off her shoes and sitting on her bed, I followed suit and sat in front of her with my back facing the headboard.

"No, really. I'm serious, actually" I said. Elsa looked at me ready to listen "So, I talked to Queen Skylynn and I- I kind of asked her, why she wants to defend Hans even if she knows what he did to us. She answered that I should understand why better than anyone" Elsa bit her lip like she does when she's thinking.

"She's right"

"That got me to think and I made up a theory… why won't you let her see Hans?" I asked. Elsa took a moment to think and then answered.

"It's not like I don't trust her…" I gave her a look "Okay, I don't trust her at all and…" she paused "And that's it… it's better off like this"

"Elsa, don't lie to me. First, because I don't like it, second, you're like an open book to me. Plus, we both know that if she wanted to break him out of jail she would have done it already" I said

"Alright, fine. I didn't let her because… because she really _does_ _care_ for him and I bet she'd do anything in her power to help him get off the hook" she answered.

"So I was right" I said, mostly to myself though. Elsa nodded.

"I can't not let her speak during the trial, we'll have to be careful with her"

"She doesn't have bad intentions, of that I'm sure"

"Like you were sure of… never mind" Elsa trailed off realizing the jab she about to give me "Sorry" she apologized.

"It's okay. You're right, but still… I think we can trust her even if she's his sister"

"Half-sister"

"Minor detail, they're related" I said "But I was thinking that maybe you should let her see him. Let them talk, she thinks it's her fault if he tried to take over our kingdom. If I did something like what he did, wouldn't you want to see me and talk to me?" Elsa sighed.

"Anna-"

"-Would you?"

"Of course I would"

"Then why not let her?" I insisted. Elsa seemed to think for a moment.

"I need to think about it" With that we didn't go back on the topic.

"Soo…" I began "Before he made you want to freeze him, what were you and Kristoff talking about?" without a warning, at the speed of light, Elsa pounced on me making me fall on the bed. Then she grabbed a pillow and started playfully hitting me with it, as I laughed trying to defend myself.

"MIND ***hit*** YOUR OWN ***double hit*** BUSINESS!"

 **Skylynn's POV:**

It's Monday. SInce I got to Arendelle I spent all my time in the library and I still haven't found anything in the Arendellian laws that could help Hans! I had to do something. I owe it to him, I owed… everything to him. He's my brother and I don't care for what he did, I know him and he's not the man who tried to kill Queen Elsa and her little sister. I haven't seen any of my other so-called 'half-siblings', and I most certainly haven't seen Hans, thanks to Queen Elsa's not so positive answer to my request. Right now, I was still at the library, looking through book number _I-Lost-Count-Of_ , when I heard footsteps coming closer.

"So, you came" said a familiar voice. I didn't bother to look up, I knew that voice too well.

"Yes, I did. Thank you for telling me, by the way" I said looking back up.

"It was the least I could do after…-"

"After you deserted the Drakorian Army and sided with the Southern Isles? Yes, that was just the least" I replied coldly.

"You're not still mad about that?" I looked at him, meeting his blue eyes with my grey ones, glaring intensely.

"Yes. But it's not for leaving the army, that is your business. What makes me furious is that _you,_ a Drakorian, when things got bad for us, you decided to side, of all kingdoms, with the Southern Isles by being Theodore's lackey. _I_ had to personally step in to not make Landon banish you as a traitor. You don't turn your back on your own people when they need you"

"So, as long as you turn your back to the Isles it's cool, but if I do to Drakora it's not?" he said irritated.

"Don't turn this on me, Storm. You know very well why I left that place and becoming queen wasn't in my plans"

"Then why did you? Because of Landon?" Storm challenged.

"Leave him out of this" I said coldly "But let me remind you that you left the night before the battle, without saying anything and leaving me alone. We promised would have each other's back till the end and you left me alone. Landon didn't even get the time to find someone else as qualified as you"

"Skylynn-"

"- No, 'Skylynn' my foot, Storm!" I cut him off angrily "You left him to force me to choose between leading the naval army and the land army. Do you have _any_ idea how many lives depended on me in that battle?! You knew very well how important that naval fight was, much more than the terrestrial one. You had my hands tied, Storm! If I hadn't taken your place in that sea battle we wouldn't have won and Drakora would still be under Hugh's tyrannical government if not still in a revolutionary war. Do you know how many men I disappointed? All the soldiers who were supposed to fight with me, _all_ of them! I don't know why, but they wanted _me_ to guide them and I let them down, because of _you_!"

"I'm sorry-"

"Saying 'sorry' won't make up for it. My position was already questioned due to my origins and being a bastard, you just made things worse for me. I was lucky enough to win that battle" that got him to shut up. I looked down to my book, taking a deep breath to cool off a moment "Anyway, what do you want?" I then said lifting my head up, directing my gaze towards the raven haired, blue eyed general.

"Ask you why you are here. My letter was just to inform you, since Hans is your brother" he said meeting my gaze.

"None of your business" I snapped going back to the book

"It kind of is since, well… tomorrow is Hans' trial"

"If you're worried, which you're not, I'm not going to kill any of my half-brothers" I said going back to the book.

"You're right, I'm not worried"

"Good"

"Theodore is" That got my attention. I lifted my head back up to see Storm lean on the table.

"Oh?"

"And so are Herbert and Gordon" he continued

"Even better" I said. Storm remained silent for a moment.

"How so? You know Herbert and Gordon"

"Yeah, much better than they know me"

"And that doesn't… alarm you?"

"No" I said nonchalantly. Storm looked puzzled.

"Why?"

"Because they're afraid of me" I paused looking back at him "Ironic, right? The two princes scared by their little half-sister, the bastard sibling they have and despise"

"Yeah, the little half-sister who at fifteen went to a one-year-long rebellion war and married a king at sixteen. They don't just despise you, they envy you to death because you made a difference and they didn't, and stop referring to yourself as the 'bastard sibling' of theirs"

"But I am. I was indeed born out of wed-lock. The King cheated on his wife and had me, and you know what it is of those like me"

"It shouldn't be like this" he said "You are much more of a royal than they will ever be"

"Flattery won't take you anywhere"

"I was being serious, Sky"

"It's _Skylynn_ to you" I snapped, but that only got Storm to smirk.

"You never hide behind your title, I like that about you"

"Stop with the flattery" he raised his hands in surrender.

"Just being honest. If you're worried about the crush I had on you a few years back, don't worry. I'm over it"

"You better" I said looking at him straight in the eyes.

"Anyway, so you actually came because…?"

"Why do you think I'm here? I've been in this freaking library for days, and I haven't even-"

"-found something to let Hans off the hook?" he finished.

"Not exactly" I answered, then something caught my eye. One of the Arendellian laws, it wasn't really what I was hoping for, but if that meant doing something for Hans, then it was my only chance. This law was common also to the Southern Isles, I remember that. This was my only chance to save him. I closed the book, made a pile with the others and put them back in place.

"You found something" Storm stated.

"Yes"

"What? Maybe I can help you"

"I'm not telling you" I snapped as I put back the last book.

"What? Why? Skylynn, you can trust-"

"-No, I can't"

"But I sent you that letter to tell you about Hans! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"I'm thankful for that, but I can't trust you. Not anymore" hurt flashed through Storm's eyes. _What? He asked for it!_ "And for the record, who's side are you on? You deserted the Drakorian Army only to join the Southern Isles'; you work for Theodore, but as soon as he's not looking, you run to me offering your help. Remember the Army Rule n°2? ' _Never trust a man whose position is unclear, never take his help, as it could be the death of you_ ', make up your mind, Storm. You can't keep your foot in both camps" With that I got out of the library leaving him.  
I walked through the halls as a plan formed into my mind. It was risky, but it was the only way, but to do that I needed to gain Queen Elsa's and Princess Anna's trust. Now that I think of it, I actually really need just Queen Elsa's, since Princess Anna seems to trust me already. That little redhead is really something. She can go from a hyper, chatty kid to a mature business woman with such a naturalness that was almost creepy, but she was like that. She has her moments. Anna is still immature, but she will eventually grow up. She's still naïve, though, even after what Hans did. She should be more cautious like her sister. She immediately gave me her trust and that was not good for her. Elsa knows that too. I can see it in her eyes, but I think she's letting her take her own time to grow up, but she knows that Anna's immediate trust towards me it's like she hasn't learnt anything from Hans. Just because I'm a woman like her, doesn't mean I can't trick my own way to snatch Elsa's throne by using her.  
Elsa is a great ruler, though. It doesn't take a genius to see that after a few seconds of talking to her and watching her people. She's very cautious, reflective, she cares for her kingdom and won't let her guard down easily and her ice powers are a bonus. Her flaw? She thinks she can do the impossible: control her emotions. She can hide them, but she can't control them… no one can.

"Queen Skylynn" I heard Queen Elsa call me. _Speak of the devil…_ I turned around and saw the blue eyed queen in her beautiful blue ice dress glory. Her hair in her usual braid and her eyes studying me.

"Queen Elsa" I greeted with a nod of the head "How are you today, your Majesty?" I asked as she walked towards me until she was in front of me.

"I'm fine, thank you. Have you made yourself comfortable for your stay?" I shrugged with a small smile. "My sister told me you two talked the other day" _Of course… memo for me: if we become friends, never tell Anna a secret._ "I'm about to go see Hans" she said "Would you accompany me?" I couldn't help not to contain my smile.

"I'd be glad" I answered and walked towards her, she smiled back at me and walked to my side as she showed me the way to the dungeons.

* * *

 **And there you have it! So, what do you think of Skylynn, Elsa, Anna and Storm for now? Mostly what did you make out of Skylynn? How do you think the chat will go? REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW and let me know! ;-)  
**

 **Since the chapters are long, as you can see... will you guys reward me with getting this story to 15 REVIEWS? THERE WILL BE A SPECIAL DOUBLE UPDATE NEXT WEEK AS MY EASTER PRESENT TO YOU! ONE UPDATE ON FRIDAY AND THE OTHER ON SUNDAY! ;-)**

 **See you next week! :-)**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	4. Masks, Talks and Siblings

**Skylynn's POV:**

Elsa and I walked side by side as we made our way to the dungeons to see Hans. We remained in silence for most of the way, but although it wasn't an awkward one, there was a thick tension in the air. It was the sort of tension that you get addicted to after spying missions and infiltrations, surrounded by your enemies ready to kill you the moment you make one small mistake. The adrenaline, your heart beating hard against your ribcage though you're not doing anything to cause that fast beating. The adrenaline is always there, now the fast heartbeat is gone, it always is after the first missions, but the thrill is always there. Elsa glanced at me once in a while, like if she was checking what I was doing and she was wise in doing so. It was just us here and the one thing she knew about me was that I was Hans's half-sister and was here to help him. I could tell Elsa was not used to this. I didn't need to hear it to know that in that moment her heart was pounding due to this tension she too was feeling. I almost let a satisfied smirk graze my lips, knowing that part of the Snow Queen was intimidated by me: an ordinary woman who would have never been her equal… _yes… the small satisfactions of life_.  
There were small unspoken conversations in those small glances we gave one another which mostly were _'watch your back'_. She was on her guard and so was I. I could strike her at any moment. Kill her without a second thought, free my brother and disappear. But Elsa knew that I was well aware of her powers as well, and knew that the only opportunity I would have to end her without turning into an icicle, would be the second she got distracted. Suddenly she spoke up, breaking the ice… _lame joke, I know_.

"You're actually pretty quiet" she commented.

"I call it: being reserved" I said "I could say the same thing about you"

"Well, I don't know if talking about your past to two complete strangers can be considered as 'reserved'"

"Touché" She shook her head with a small smile.

"Look, I know I'm probably going to be indiscreet now and you don't need to answer if you don't want to but... what did you mean when you said that you turned your back on him?"

"No, you aren't being indiscreet at all. I knew I would have had to answer you that question, sooner or later" I answered "Hans and I used to be very close, just like you and Princess Anna. He is the only brother I _actually_ have. Being the 13th son of the royal family put us on the same boat: he was ignored and shut out because he was the youngest, less than a spare, while I was ignored, despised and shut out because I was the result of the King's _'affair with another woman'_. My mother worked in the palace. She was actually the princes' tutor. I don't exactly know the dynamics, but I lived in the palace for the first few years and I remember being referred to as ' _Miss Engel's daughter_ ' or _'the tutor's daughter'_. When I was 6 years-old my mother asked the king if I could join the princes' lessons as well… they argued, Queen Amber was present, Mom lost her temper and well…she let the secret slip. That was the day I found out my father was the king. And what did my 'dear daddy' do? He kicked us out. Hans was a kid, but sometime later he had found out where we had gone and came to the house every day. He would stay in the house and babysit me while my mother went to the local school to teach. When his siblings found out, it took a turn to the worst for him, but he didn't care. He has always been there for me. It was him and I against the world…" I paused realizing I was beginning to talk too much. "Thing is, when I married Landon, I didn't notice it, but I left him alone. Becoming queen put even a bigger distance between us, more than the sea dividing our countries. I had a kingdom to run now and he was back to being the 13th son. I didn't mean to, but I gave him a reason to push himself off the limit" Elsa remained silent for a moment. In that moment thought, the tension seemed to be slowly dying down.

"I think I understand" she said.

"You _think_?"

"You haven't said much but… I can sense there is so much more behind it. It seems like you lived the reason he tried to take over my kingdom yourself" she observed. I gave her a small side smile.

"Well, I'm a lot like him" Elsa stopped dead in her tracks looking at me raising an eyebrow.

" _Really_?"

"Really"

"Don't get any strange ideas, but I beg to differ, your track record says differently. He tried to murder both me and my sister, manipulated her, made her think he was in love with her only to marry her and try to kill me afterwards. You, on the other hand, fought to bring back the rightful king of Drakora on his throne, you showed great loyalty to the point of taking an arrow for him-"

"- and a dagger…"

"-and a dagger- wait- a dagger?!" she exclaimed shocked.

"Yup. Right in my back" I said like I was talking about picking primroses. Elsa shook her head and started walking again as I followed.

"Anyway. Your actions say differently" she said.

"Actions don't really say much about personality" Slowly the tension that was dying down, started to pick up again, and I admit I was enjoying myself.

"I think they do"

"Not all of them"

"Still think they do"

"So, basing myself off your actions, you didn't shut your sister out because you were trying to protect her, right?"

"No! I _was_ trying to protect her"

"Really? Because shutting someone out seems like a thing someone who doesn't care would do. Someone who shuts you out for years is someone who doesn't want to have anything to do with you. But anyone can actually see the strong affection between you and the Princess"

"I see your point" she said "But my intentions were good. You fought for a rightful cause. Hans deliberately tried to kill us by putting up a mask-"

"And what makes you think that my past actions weren't just a mask? Just look at my brother before the big reveal" I said looking at her in the eyes. Elsa seemed puzzled and stopped once again in her tracks.

"I'm sorry, I'm confused" I couldn't help to let out a small laugh.

"Oh, my goodness, Queen Elsa… you never stop surprising me. You should know very well how to hold masks yourself since you've been wearing one for years and still seem to wear it from time to time" she narrowed her eyes at me stopping.

"Now, hold on a second-"

"- _Queen Elsa_ might be a mature woman who could prove herself to be a ruler greater than many other experienced monarchs and be the image of the _'perfect queen'_. Only that once you dig a little deeper you realize that _Elsa_ is just a 21 year-old girl with all her flaws and virtues, who might be more cautious and reflective than her little sister but sure as heck is just as naïve and gullible as her. Looks like those years of solitude backfired, since you seem quite easy to mess with" then I got the answer I was looking for.

"Or maybe I'm just playing your game and wearing a mask to study you since you're the one who seems to enjoy playing little mind games just like…-" she trailed off as realization hit her.

"Hans" I finished "Still think I'm not a lot like him?"

"What is your point, Queen Skylynn?" she said seriously.

"My point is precisely this: people don't do things just because they feel like it. There are many things that influence our choices. Hans isn't really evil as you think he is. Have you ever thought of the reasons behind why he did what he did? What if I'm actually sneakier than Hans and becoming Queen of Drakora was exactly my goal? What if Hans is not the real reason why I'm here?" I slightly leaned down towards her so I could directly look at her in the eyes "What if I am not really the hero? What if _I_ am… the bad guy?" Elsa didn't break the eye contact, she boldly held her ground. She was calculating, analyzing what I said. Then she continued to walk towards the dungeons and I kept following.

"You _are_ here for Hans… you have no interest in my throne" she concluded.

"Because I'm the heroine of Drakora and I just offered you an alliance?"

"No, because if you were here for my throne, you would have already somehow tried to trick Anna to get to me"

"Your Majesty, we both that is just _so_ predictable…" I commented raising an eyebrow. By the flash in her blue eyes, Elsa was slightly getting irritated, but she went on speaking.

"Also because of the way you behaved during our meeting, what you told us and what you just told me. Don't think I didn't notice the attitude slip for a moment, you realized you were opening up to me" she paused for a moment. _Dang! She could play this game!_ "Did Anna also tell you what Hans said to us when we met him and your brothers?"

"Yes, she did"

"That was no mask, there was pure fury in his eyes, I saw it" she said.

"And what if mine is just a pose? What if what you think of me is exactly what I want you to think?" I retorted.

"Why the pose?"

"I could ask you the same. It's all part of this game we both know the rules to. It's a game of chess, masks and actors; the more accurate is the strategy, the more complex is the mask, the better the actor. Hans has already played his part and had his turn that got him out of the play, but he still keeps his mask on. Your mask is the mask of the queen by all means of the word"

"And what is your mask, Queen Skylynn?" her blue eyes staring straight into my grey ones.

"That is for you to figure out" Elsa scoffed rolling her eyes.

"And now you can't tell me, why?"

"Because it's now time for you to play your part…" I paused leaning closer to her and smirked "What's your move going to be?" Elsa stayed in place for a moment longer. She was annoyed by me, but yet she was studying me like a scientific sample. She didn't reply, but went back to walking and I beside her as silence ruled between us once again, until we got to the hall that lead to the cell door, which had two guards standing high and mighty.

"Maybe it's better if you hand your sword to the guards" Elsa said

"Why?" I asked raising an eyebrow

"I don't want him to try anything"

"That won't be a problem, he won't" I said

"Queen Skylynn, I insist, it's better if you do. Hans is dangerous" Elsa said. I smiled reassuringly.

"Hans is not dangerous" she raised an eyebrow at me "Okay, maybe he is, but not to me"

"What makes you so sure about that? May I remind you that he tried to murder both me and my sister?"

"He's my brother… he would never hurt me" I said with a smile. Elsa seemed caught off guard, but she dropped the subject and let me keep my sword. We walked to the door, until we were in front of the guards

"Queen Skylynn and I would like to see the prisoner" Elsa said not losing her regal composure.

"Yes, your Majesties" the guards said and opened the cell door. The room was dark and I couldn't see much, the only light was provided by the small window on the wall. There was a figure laying on the cell bed on his side: Hans. I immediately got inside the room completely forgetting that Elsa was there.

"Queen Elsa you came to pay me a visit with a friend. I'm honored" he said sarcastically as he slowly sat up.

"Hans" I called marching towards him. He snapped his head up.

"Sky?" he said surprised.

"Dude, what the freaking hell is wrong with you?" I scolded.

"Me? Nothing" he said going back to his previous attitude.

"Well it _has_ to be something because I can't figure out why someone like you would screw up his life the way you just did" Hans stood up and walked towards the window.

"Well, you know my life, my past, it shouldn't take you too long to figure it out" he said cynically. As he passed next to me I grabbed his arm but he immediately shrugged it off, looking at me.

"I can't believe you could be so stupid" I stated getting to his face.

"What do you want from me, Skylynn? I've spent years telling you not to be ashamed of yourself and embrace who you are. You want me to be different? To not be me?" he paused "Well that's never going to happen, so start liking the real Hans Westerguard of the Southern Isles or leave me the _hell_ alone" he said and walked to the window looking outside. I remained silent for a moment.

"Queen Elsa, can you give us a moment?" I asked her.

"I don't think that's-"

"Please?" I asked looking at her. She got the message and nodded.

"Alright, I'll be waiting outside" she said and got out of the cell closing the door behind her. I turned back to Hans and watched as he sat back on the bed and… was he limping? It took me a moment to take in his appearance. He wasn't looking good, at all… and not just because of his peasant clothes. His hair still made part in the middle but was very dirty and messy, his sideburns gone and replaced with a shabby beard, or the little that grew, and he had lost way too much weight.

"Are you okay?" I asked softly.

"What do you think? And why do you care, anyway?" he snapped

"Drop the act, Hans" I commanded. He smiled faintly but kept his head down.

"Bossy as always, hu?"

"It's something you taught me" I said walking closer to him. He didn't move, he just sat there looking at the ground. "Why did you say those things to them?" I asked softly.

"Because I meant them"

"Hans…" I warned.

"It's true"

"No, it's not"

"Yes, it is"

"Hans, you don't need to pretend around me. I know you"

"What makes you think that you know me so well, when we both know that you weren't expecting me to do such a thing?"

"We've been on the same boat for years, and to be frank, my side of the boat was even worse than yours" I said raising my voice "So cut the crap and talk to me, Hans!" he looked away

"About what? There's nothing I need to explain to you"

"I'm telling you: talk to me" I paused "Talk to me, Hans" I said softly almost pleadingly "Tell me what happened, don't… shut me out… don't do to me what our brothers did to the both of us" he didn't say anything "Hans, we only have each other and we've always been so open to one another. You know you can trust me"

"I don't _want_ to trust you, Skylynn!" he snapped "I know I can, but I _don't want to_! I don't want to be open with you because I don't want you to help me because you feel bounded to do so by a stupid ' _I'll-stand-by-you_ ' promise we did when we were kids! I don't want to trust and be open with you because of how well I know you!" he paused. His words stung like poison "You have this incredible sense of right and wrong that…" he sighed lowering his head and running a hand through his hair "… forget it… just… forget it"

"We've spent years together, Hans. We promised we would always be there for each other and you've kept your promise" I paused "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't realize I turned my back on you until it was too late and I'm sorry" His head snapped back towards me, in panic.

"No, Sky. Don't blame yourself for what I did, it's not your fault" he said immediately

"But-"

"-No 'buts'. It was not your fault. You didn't do anything. The blame is all mine. I wanted to be king, I took my chance, I failed and now I'm paying the consequences" he paused for a moment as he realized he had dropped the mask "The only thing I'm sorry for is not succeeding in my plan" he replied going back to his previous behavior "I know what you want me to do. You want me to open up to you only to tell me to tell Elsa my side of the story and hope for her mercy. Well that's not going to happen because Elsa won't see anything else in me but the monster who deceived her sister" I sighed shaking my head and walked closer to him.

"I'm here to help you" I stated. He looked at me like if I were an alien.

"Didn't you hear what I just said? I _wanted_ to kill Elsa and Anna, I _wanted_ to take over the kingdom, I don't regret anything!"

"You don't get it, do you?" I said kneeling down in front of him placing my hands on his "No matter what you do, I'm not going to judge you. You don't need to me ashamed around me, weather you want to cry, or laugh, or you're angry… I do all those things too, you know?" I paused as a faint smile appeared on my lips "I'm a lot like you" He shook his head covering my hands with his.

"No, Sky. You're nothing like me and I'm glad you aren't. You're a heroine, you are a good person, you're… you're very different from me"

"This is where you're wrong and you know it. I've seen the dark side too, Hans. I know what you've been through because, as I said before, you and I have always been on the same boat. What you don't understand is that you can tell me anything because no matter what you confess to me…" I paused putting a hand on his rough cheek "… _Nothing_ is ever going to make me love you less" I slid my hand on his chin lifting his face up so he could look at me in the eyes "I'll stand by you, Hans and I don't care if you want me to help you or not… I'm not giving up on you because we're in this together… and it's not because I feel bounded by our deal" Hans looked at me in the eyes. Now that I was close I could see his face clearer. Anger flared through me when I saw the bad bruise on his face and saw his rawboned cheeks, I immediately looked at his hands and realized that the texture like thing I was touching wasn't a cheap glove, but a bandage. Hans immediately pulled his hands away and turned his face, his breath hitching.

"Can you leave, please?" he asked me with his voice almost trembling.

"Hans, which one did this to you?" I asked sternly.

"Go, Skylynn"

"Answer me" I said

"I said 'go away'" he repeated harshly.

"It was Gordon and Herbert, weren't they?" I insisted.

"Skylynn, get out" Hans repeated raising his voice.

"Not until you tell me which one did this to you" I insisted.

"Get out"

"Was it August? Gordon? Herbert? Brad? Jayden? Linus? Which one?!"

"Get out, Skylynn, NOW!" he shouted standing up abruptly but yelped in pain as soon as he did. I immediately caught him, only to make him yelp painfully again as soon as my arm clutched his back to hold him. I helped Hans sit back on the bunk.

"What did they do to you?" I asked again.

"It doesn't matter. You should leave" was his reply.

" _It doesn't matter_?! Hans you're limping, you lost too much weight, you got an awful bruise on your face, your hand is bandaged and now let me see your back!"

"No. Skylynn go! Listen to me for once"

"No, I've listened to you for years, now _you_ listen to _me_. Take your shirt off and let me see your back"

"Forget it"

" **Now** " I said looking directly in his green eyes with determination. He must have seen how angry and determent I was, because he lowered his gaze and obliged.

"You are as stubborn as heck" he commented.

"So are you" I countered. He shook his head and first took off his jacket. The back of his shirt was just a warning. There were streaks of dried blood on it. That already made me angry. Then he took off the rope he used as a belt and took off his shirt exposing me his back. What I saw next made my blood boil with anger and hatred. His back was full of slashed wounds, some of them still were bloody others were clearly infected. The skin around them red and angry. What got me even more furious was the fact that his ribs were getting clearly visible.

"They put you to work in the mines, didn't they?" I said trying to contain my anger.

"Yeah"

"Where did you get all these injuries from?"

"The hand and the limp while at work"

"The others?" I said as hatred made my blood boil.

"Who do you think?"

"Does Theodore know?"

"He knows I got my injuries working… let's just say that these were enough" _THAT'S IT!_

"Okay… THIS IS _INSANE_!" I yelled and marched angrily towards the door

"Skylynn! Wait!" he called but I didn't listen. I stormed out of the room meeting Queen Elsa outside. Her tranquil expression morphed into worry when she saw my face.

"What happened?" she asked.

"He needs a doctor, now" I said trying to contain my anger and hate.

"I saw he was injured but it seemed like his wounds were treated, is he sick?" she asked confused

"Call a doctor and go take a look yourself. I have business to attend to" I said stormed off leaving Queen Elsa behind me. _I am going to KILL Herbert and Gordon!_

 **Elsa's POV:**

Queen Skylynn was beyond furious, that much I could see and that got me worried sick. I saw that look again. The look Hans had when he almost killed me, that anger and fury and hatred. I saw them all in those stormy grey eyes. Another thing I was sure of was that she was not angry at Hans. I had just enough time to have a small chat with him. I got inside the cell door and found him putting his jacket back on.

"Are you picking turns to see me?" he said smugly "First my little sister and now you. Is Princess Anna next?"

"Why does it look like Queen Skylynn is about to murder someone?" I asked directly.

"Oh, I don't know… maybe being murderers runs in the family" he smirked "I'm actually surprised you don't think _I_ did something to her"

"As much as she enjoys little mind games and is an admirable actress, such as yourself… no one can conceal strong emotions like the anger and hatred I saw in her eyes" He snorted raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, that's rich! Heard by the one who still believes she can do that"

"What do you mean?" I said narrowing my eyes at him.

"Says the queen who froze over her kingdom because she was scared!" he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Whatever. I'm not here to talk about my powers" I cut short.

"If you want me to apologize. Forget it. I'm not sorry and I don't regret anything" he said glaring daggers at me "Actually the only thing I regret is not killing both you and your sister when I had the chance"

"I heard that already and I suggest you watch your tongue, Hans. Your trial is tomorrow"

"What's the point? You have already made up your mind, I'm sure of it! This is just for formalities. Just execute me and make it quick. You know what? Freeze me already while you're at it" he said. Those words got me by surprise.

"What?"

"You heard me" he said and walked closer to me using his hands to lower the loose neck of his shirt to reveal his chest "Hit me. Freeze my heart like you froze Anna's. You did it once. It shouldn't be too hard to do it again" he said with poison dripping from his voice.

"That was an accident! And NO! I'm not freezing your heart" I replied.

"Why? It would make things so much easier and quicker!" I narrowed my eyes at him and stepped closer looking at him in the eyes.

"For one thing, I'm no killer and second, Queen Skylynn wouldn't approve"

"I don't give a freaking _DAMN_ about Skylynn!" he said angrily.

"But _Skylynn_ gives a _'freaking damn'_ about you!" I countered. That got him to silence "Whether I like it or not, she's here to help you. She cares about you. She's here for _you_ "

"Then she's just a deluded little girl if she thinks I have ever actually cared about her" he said poisonously.

"She told me a bit about your past together. You stood by her side when nobody wanted her, you have been there for her. This actually makes me think that _maybe,_ just _maybe,_ there is an extremely small part of humanity in you, very, _very_ deep down. And not just that, also a couple of other things"

"Enlighten me" he said arrogantly crossing his arms.

"Why did you save my life?" I asked.

"I didn't"

"Yes, you did. I was about to kill two men in my palace. If it weren't for you, I would have become a murderer… the monster they feared I was. It would have made things easier for you by letting me become that monster. It would have given you the perfect reason to have me killed. Yet, you stopped me. Why?"

"I had a part to play and keep up with. You should know that better than anyone. It's all part of the game we both know the rules to. It's a game of chess, masks and actors; the more accurate is the strategy, the more complex is the mask, the better the actor"

"You had your turn, played your part and that got you out of the play, but yet you still wear a mask" I replied

"No, once you're out of the game, you take off the mask" he countered.

"Your sister would differ"

"How would you know what my sister thinks?" he snapped, his green eyes glaring into mine. But I didn't back down. I was not going to back down. Not from Skylynn and most certainly not from him.

"She said you keep a mask on, although I agree with you. Once you're out you, you take the mask off" he looked at me intensely. Examining me, studying my moves.

"What other things make you think I'm not completely a… monster?"

"Why did you try to save me when that man had his crossbow pointed at me?" I asked again.

"I didn't try to save you. If anything I was trying to kill you and get away with it" that revelation was light a lighting out of the blue.

"What?! But you moved the crossbow!"

"I saw the chandelier" he said arrogantly "My intentions were _far_ from good. We're back into the mask game. I had to play a part. What kind of hero would I have been if I let that man kill you just like that? What would I have said to Anna?"

"So you had just improvised an accident" I stated.

"Yup. Too bad you were fast enough to get out of the way" I tried not to let his words get to me.

"And what about Queen Skylynn? She cares about you. She feels responsible for what you did. She said you stood by her, she said that you stayed with her even when your brothers found out about it and it took a turn to the worst for you"

"As I said earlier, she's just a deluded little girl if she thinks I have ever actually cared about her" I stood there shocked.

"You can't be serious…" was all I could mutter.

"Oh, but I am" he continued with a smug look "I was the thirteenth son. None of my brothers ever liked me, actually they hate me to guts. My parents never really cared so… if I wanted to prove myself worthy of something I needed someone to practice with and who else was better practice than my half-sister?" he chuckled "Well, now you can see how good I got at manipulating people"

"How could you do that to her? How could you make her believe you actually loved her, when you knew very well her situation as an illegitimate child? I talked to Queen Skylynn and the way she talked about you made me think that maybe I was wrong about you. You know, I was willing to hear your side of the story, but you just confirmed my first thoughts about you. Do you have any idea of the pain you are going to put your sister through when after the trial I'm going to judge you?"

"And why should I care? Plus, Skylynn has Landon. She'll get through it in no time"

"King Landon is dead, Hans. Your sister is a widow" his face changed from cynicism to surprise.

"Oh…" as soon as surprise came on his face it immediately got back to the monster that was in front of me "Then I suppose it will take her a little bit longer to get over it" I shook my head in disbelief. How could someone as smart and brave like Queen Skylynn fight for a lost cause like him?

"I'll send a doctor to check on you and a couple of servants to make you look presentable for the trial" I said.

"Oh, your Majesty! So many people caring about me, I'm touched!" he said sarcastically.

"I'm not the one sending you a doctor. Your sister is" I said coldly. I could feel the frost forming on my fingertips and the cloud of hot air that formed when I talked to him made me realize the temperature had dropped. I thought about Anna and my people and repressed the anger I was feeling towards this man, bringing the cell's temperature back to normal. He remained silent and walked back to the window looking outside. I turned around and walked towards the door and stopped as soon as I reached the doorknob.

"I shouldn't have let Queen Skylynn's words get me to doubt my thoughts about you. I should have known you'd never be anything… but a beast" with that I opened the door and walked away leaving him alone. As I got out of the dungeons, I looked for Kai and gave my orders, he bowed and obliged walking away. As I walked towards my study with my mind wrapped up in thought, I heard someone calling me. I turned around and saw it was General Ryder.

"Queen Elsa! Thank goodness I found you" he said running towards me. His bright blue eyes showed worry, a lot of worry.

"General Ryder, is something wrong?" I asked. He nodded.

"I was in one of the living rooms with King Theodore and the Princes. We were talking with Princess Anna about the trial tomorrow and Queen Skylynn has just barged into the room"

"What happened? I allowed her to talk to the prisoner and she came out furious" I said cutting short, already following him.

" _Furious_? I believe she has already written _'101 Ways to Massacre King Theodore and his Brothers'_ on the way to the room. If you don't stop them, it won't end well" He didn't need to add another word as we were already racing to the room as fast as we could.

* * *

 **Oh-oh... someone's in _BIG_ trouble! What do you think is going to happen? Your thoughts on Hans? On Queen Skylynn? What do you think of Elsa? If you find Queen Skylynn a little annoying or will in future chapters: awesome! That's what I wanted :-)  
SPECIAL UPDATE ON SUNDAY as my Easter present to all of my fellow readers!  
Can we bring this story to up to 20 REVIEWS? If you don't I won't update next week, MUAHAHAHAHAHA!  
Anyway, see you all on Sunday and let me know what you think with a REVIEW.  
**

 **HAPPY EASTER! :-)**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	5. Confronting the Half-Brothers

**HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE! Here's the second update I promised you for Easter!  
Unfortunately, I'll have to accompany this chapter with a serious A/N.**

 **FIRST OF ALL: I thank all those who spend their time by reading my work, as I believe that contrustive criticisms are fundemental for my improvement.**

 **Unfortunately, sometimes, I receive negative reviews with no constructive means, but only to insult me and I don't understand why these people don't stop reading. Don't like it, don't read it. Above it all, these people insult authors remaining anonymus.  
**

 **Then, I've had my first encounter with the so-called "grammar nazis". Although they are a little too agressive in their corrections,** **I thank these people for their interest in my work, but mostly because their corrections help me improve my English since I have said more than once that English is not my native language.**

 **Thank you all for reading this**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Skylynn's POV:**

I had paced through this entire palace like a fury with steam coming out of my ears as I went searching for Theodore and the other two buttholes. I looked everywhere but they were nowhere to be seen. I was furious beyond human possibilities. How dare they do something like that to my brother?! - _Their_ brother!?- The Southern Isles may be too old fashioned, but torture was _not_ inacceptable even there! The first thoughts in my mind were: kill Herbert and Gordon, kill Herbert and Gordon, kill Herbert and Gordon. Stalking thought the castle, with the sensation of leaving a trail of fire behind me as I walked, though gave me some time to clear my head a little and think. Murdering them was not going to take me anywhere. It would have given me great pleasure, but it would have made things worse. When I finally found them, it was late enough to restrain myself from committing fratricide, if you can even call it that considering my lacking of feeling connected to them, but too soon to hold back my instincts. They were in one of the living rooms speaking with Anna. Storm was there as well and was the first to notice me as I busted into the room.

"Queen Skylynn! Is there something wrong?" Princess Anna asked as soon as she saw me. I went straight past her and towards Herbert and Gordon.

"You had no right to do those things to him!" I said angrily.

"As a matter of fact we did, _Heroine_ " Gordon said with a smug look, marking the 'heroine' with disdain "Theodore ordered us to punish him temporally while he couldn't so-"

"- _No_ , not putting him to work into the mines, you _idiot_. What you did to him!"

"Queen Skylynn, please don't make a scene in front of the Princess" Theodore said looking worried.

"Actually we could" continued Herbert pacing back next to Theodore and Gordon, completely ignoring his older brother "Law says that if the prisoner doesn't do his job properly, it is our right to punish him"

"Oh, please! You just find every possible excuse to beat him up because you're just heartless, sadist assholes!" I shouted. I heard Anna gasp in astonishment behind me.

"What did you dare call us?" Gordon said looking at me with hatred.

" _Miserable_ … _self-centered_ … _heartless… sadist_ … ASSHOLES!" I repeated with poison dripping onto every word "Who have spent every waking minute of their whole existence making both mine and Hans's life a living hell! I'M OFFICIALLY OVER IT!"

"Queen Skylynn, please, calm down" Anna worriedly said.

"I'm sorry, Princess Anna, but I'm not going to just stand here and do nothing knowing in what condition they put my brother in" I replied, trying hard not to snap at her. After all, she had nothing to do with this.

"We put him in the condition a scumbag like him should be" Gordon replied.

"You put him in a condition not even an animal should be in!" I snapped back "You cowards! Hiding behind your number like a pack of hyenas only to strike when one is at his weakest!"

"You better watch your mouth, brat! Do _not_ challenge us, Skylynn!" Herbert replied.

"Enough, all three of you!" Theodore thundered

"Theodore's right!" Herbert added "You girl, better apologize to us right now before you dishonor the Westerguards in front of the Princess of Arendelle, then we'll speak like civilized people" he commanded. I looked at them in disbelief, though, why? I was supposed to expect it.

"You've got to be kidding me! You broke your own kingdom's law, beaten up your brother like an animal and all you care about is your damn honor?! You're the ones who shamed themselves just now!" I snapped.

"Shame?!" Gordon said with a scoff.

"The only thing we're to be ashamed of is Hans trying to commit regicide along with your existence and childish behavior, you arrogant brat!" Herbert replied.

"You two are so damn lucky Princess Anna is here right now, because you have no idea how much pleasure it would give me to skewer you on my sword like fish right now!" _Okay, I should have kept that to myself..._

"Queen Skylynn-" Anna's worried and gentle voice called, only to be immediately cut off by her sister's.

"What is going on here?!" Queen Elsa demanded in an authoritative manner as she entered the room accompanied by Storm. I hadn't even noticed he had left the room because of how angry I was. She immediately walked towards her sister in a protective way, never leaving her regal composure.

"What's going on?!" I repeated sardonically "It goes on that I go to the dungeons, notice that Hans is even more injured than he seems, force him to show me his back and realize that these two assh-" Herbert cut me off

"SKYLYNN, I _FORBID_ YOU TO TELL QUEEN ELSA AND PRINCESS ANNA-"

"-BECAUSE YOU'RE AFRAID OF THEM, ARE YOU? You're afraid of showing yourself for who you really are!"

"Skylynn you're taking this too far!" Theodore boomed "I don't care about your attitude-"

"Well I don't give a hot wet monkey's _ass_ what you care for!" I snapped furiously "You're not my king" I said pointing my hand at him "You see I'm a queen myself now, Theodore, we're equals! And that means I can _finally_ tell you _exactly_ what I think of you! _All of you_ " I said marching towards them "I have _hated_ you! Ever since the day I met you. You are horrible people, who never once showed any sort of kindness to Hans of the Southern Isles so don't you _dare_ think for a second that he doesn't hate you too! I despise you, but you know what? After all you put me through I also want to thank you, because you've made me so much stronger. If it wasn't for all of your torture I wouldn't have learned how to be this way and to never back down. So thank you, Gordon and Herbert. Thank _you_ and the others for helping me become a fighter. But keep this in mind: when the day comes and you will pay for all that you did to us, don't start playing victim and blame Hans and I because _you_ , boys, dug your _own_ grave! And for the record, I'm glad I'm Albert's illegitimate child, because, frankly, _I'm_ the one who is ashamed of sharing half of my blood with you and I consider myself lucky for that and I'm actually sorry for Hans for being your full-blooded brother! If you were only half the princes Hans is-"

"QUEEN SKYLYNN!" Queen Elsa boomed.

"Excuse me! I'm not done!" I said and turned back to them "You Herbert and Gordon along with the others are not one little bit worth of being called 'brothers'. What kind of brothers beat up their younger sibling the way you did to Hans for all those years? And for what? Because you're envious monsters who have seen what he is capable of and were jealous of him! You _disgust_ me!"

"If I were you I would choose my next words _very_ carefully" Gordon said with hatred burning in his eyes.

"Or _WHAT?!_ You know you can't do anything to me and not just because I can take you! So what more will you do to him? You already put him through hell" I paused and took a step closer menacingly "This humiliation in front of the Queen and the Princess is _nothing_ compared to what you deserve"

"Get the hell out of here, Skylynn!" Herbert said getting to my face.

" _Make me_ get the hell out of here!"

"ENOUGH!" Elsa thundered as ice blasted from her hands covering the furniture with ice, making us all jump. Anna yelped, startled by her sister's outburst gripping on her arm. Elsa turned for a second towards Anna "Sorry" she apologized to her, thawing the furniture. Anna waved her hand in an ' _it's fine_ ' manner, but never let go of her arm.

"I have heard enough" Elsa said sternly "Queen Skylynn if what you say it's true, you have every right to be angry but it doesn't give you the right to barge into the room like a Fury and assault King Theodore and the Princes like that" she said, then she turned to Theodore and the princes "And you… I honestly have nothing and don't know what to say…" but it wasn't a positive comment it had disdain in it and I was satisfied about it. I had humiliated them and they deserved it "King Theodore" Elsa said "With all due respect, if what Queen Skylynn says is true, I suggest you tell your brothers to revise their punishing methods"

"Of course it's not true!" King Theodore said "Physical torture is forbidden in the Isles! I expressed myself very clearly to my brothers. I told them to punish Hans the way they see fit, but none of our laws allows physical torture to be inflicted on the criminal"

"Oh, that's rich!" I snapped

"Queen Skylynn" Queen Elsa severely warned but I didn't listen. Her voice seemed like a distant sound unable to reach me because of how angry I was.

"You know, I'm actually very disappointed of you, Theodore" I said "Hans has the evidence of what they did on his body, yet you believe these two of your ape brothers" I continued "You know, I've just been clear about what I think of them and not you…" I paused looking at the huge man in front of me " _You_ are a coward, Theodore, and I've had enough. Hans had to put up with them for years and put all his hopes in you and honestly I did too, but you let us down. Not once you tried to stop them from making our lives miserable. You never believed the times Hans and I told you the cause of those bruises. You're just as cruel as they are and I can't even understand how I could have seen some good in you. I thought you were different from them, that I knew you, but I guess I was very wrong, you're just as much of a bluff as they are"

"I'm not like that, Skylynn" he turned to his siblings "And you two better know that we're having a talk afterwards" Herbert and Gordon glared at both me and Theodore who turned back to me "I never wanted you and Hans to face all that and you know it"

"Do I?!" I snapped "What proof do I have, when all you did was standing on the sidelines and do nothing?"

"I did once tell them that neither Father and I would tolerate such a thing!"

"That didn't do much of a difference since they beat us up when you weren't around, did it? Just admit that you couldn't care less about - not me- about _Hans_! I wouldn't care less if you cared about me, I lived my whole life without you and I can keep doing that" I paused and looked at him in the eyes, trying to contain the anger I had left "You have a younger brother, who _sincerely believes_ that you hate him too. You were the only person he put his hopes in when he was despised by his other siblings and ignored by his parents. I mean- he speaks, for years he has tried to communicate, but why don't you… _listen_? Why are you so _dense_?" my voice was gradually raising again "Why do keep putting his hopes up and then shatter them? Wh-whenever you feel like- whenever there's something else to do!? Why don't you show him that you actually care a bit about him?! JUST FOR ONCE!"

"Who the hell do you think you're talking to?! I do care about him! I am the King of the Southern Isles I could have simply gone past our laws and execute him right away but I didn't! I followed the rules and brought him here, and you'd better watch your tongue because I'm not allowing some girl who's 20 years younger than me to scold me and tell me what to do. If you were just a tiny bit more mature you would have not acted like this, you're the Queen of Drakora, for Christ's sake! You have a kingdom to run and you act like an impulsive child! You may have been through a war but you're just a kid! You're a queen! Act like it! Don't you think that all that he's done here and concerns _you,_ doesn't also concern _me_?" I chuckled with no humor, shaking my head.

"You know so well how in the wrong you are that you're hiding behind our age gap… and I'm the immature one?" I looked back at him in the eyes "You know, you and Hans share the same parents and live under the same roof but you have never been a brother to him… _I_ have been a sister and we only have the same father and lived separated" I lowered my head and gaze "And you are just… so tragically blind that…" I snapped my head back up "The rest of your brothers are going to turn into manipulative, power hungry, sociopaths under your watch" That did it.

"You little piece of-!" he said angrily as he marched towards me.

"Whoa! Theo! Hold it!- Your Majesty! Don't!" Herbert and Storm shouted holding him back with Gordon's help.

"COME ON! YOU WANNA BEAT ME UP?!" I provoked marching towards him myself.

"Queen Skylynn, STOP! – DON'T!" Elsa and Anna shouted holding me back. Then Queen Elsa let go of me and stood between me and Theodore as Anna held me.

" _ **ENOUGH!**_ " Elsa thundered with authority. Theodore and I both stopped struggling. "That is enough! I am the Queen of Arendelle and such inappropriate behavior for two monarchs is unacceptable, especially in front of my sister and I. Guards!" she called and a few armed men came inside the room "Please escort King Theodore and the Princes to their quarters and Queen Skylynn to my study and make sure they stay in there until my arrival. A few minutes to clear their heads will make them think over their behavior" She ordered keeping her regal composure. Anna let go of my arms as I gave Elsa a look. She looked at me in such an authoritative manner that would have killed any sort of complaining, which I had no intention of making, same thing went for Theodore and the two apes. I obliged and let the guards escort me to Elsa's study preparing myself for later. Elsa was going to lecture me sooner or later. In fact, not too long after I got into the study, she came into the room with Anna trailing behind her.

* * *

 **Theodore's POV:**

"YOU BEAT HIM UP?! TORTURED HIM?!" I thundered as soon as Queen Elsa left us alone and I ordered General Ryder to leave his guarding post at my door.

"Really?! You believe that little brat?" Herbert said offended.

"Yes, Herbert. I do, because Skylynn may be impulsive, but she's not stupid! Making all this fuss for a lie? I'm not buying it this time" I said angrily.

"She humiliated us in front of Queen Elsa and Princess Anna and you're willing to defend her?!" Gordon said angrily as well.

"I'm not defending her! This is about your behavior! I put you in charge of Hans' temporary punishment and hard work in the mines was fine, but _this_? You've taken it too far! This is not how a prince behaves! And what makes it worse is that I was so caught up with my king duties that I never noticed what you were doing right under my nose. I've never felt more stupid in my life?!"

"Why do you care?!" Herbert said "He's just a criminal! He tried to kill the queen and the princess of this kingdom, he doesn't deserve any mercy"

"You've never given him- _them_ \- any mercy from the day they were born! And what for?! What have Hans and Skylynn ever done to you?"

"They were born!" Gordon said "He with his smarts and she… she's a bastard! And don't act like you don't know of what Father did before lending you that crown" I remained silent for a moment and then I spoke up.

"You know, Skylynn is right. Hans was more of a prince than you will ever be, if he became what he is now it's just because of you and all you put him through. Using Skylynn's words, you turned him into a lying, manipulative, power hungry, sociopath and if Queen Elsa decides to apply the execution _in exceptione_ and Hans dies, consider that our brother's death will be on you" I said and walked to the door.

"You see why Skylynn doesn't deserve any mercy? You are not and will never be a true king, you were a softy and you shall always remain a softy" Herbert said.

"Better being a king with a soft heart, that a prince without one" I countered and got out of the room, not waiting for their response.

* * *

 **Elsa's POV:**

"I'm having enough of you, Queen Skylynn!" I said trying to contain my irritation as I entered the study. Anna followed behind.

"Hey, they deserved it!" she countered putting up her cocky attitude.

"You are crossing the line! You are in our home and you can't just barge in like that and assault my guests under my watch! You can't do whatever you want and humiliate a king and two princes like that! Do you have any idea in what sort of situation you put me in?!"

"If I made a fuss it was for a reason! I _wanted_ to humiliate them in front of you. I wanted you to see their real face and if that meant making a scene, then I'm glad I did!"

"You weren't just mad because of a few wounds-"

"- _A few wounds_?!" she said with her grey eyes widened "Go to the dungeons! Go take a look at his back!"

"You were out of your mind!" Anna cut in "You really still have all my admiration for your actions during the war but frankly, for the whole time I was actually scared of you" That seemed to get her to shut up.

"Look" I said calmly "I understand being angry for what they did to both you and him, but you can't make a scene like that especially when whatever happens here is under my responsibility"

"I had every right to have that outburst! What they did to him was insane! They know they can't do anything to me anymore, so they take it out on him. Do you know in how many they usually beat him up?" she asked "From 3 to 6 and you still think I should have just stayed there and be silent about it? Maybe I was wrong, maybe you aren't naïve and gullible, maybe you are just like them" _Ok, that is it._

"You know what, Skylynn? The only reason why I haven't personally kicked you out of here is because of that alliance, but ever since you came here you've been up my butt and I'm _sick_ of it!" I said slightly raising my voice, not really caring for my expression either "I may be the Snow Queen, but I'm not a cold hearted monster". The only reason why nothing was frosting was because Anna was next to me holding my arm and making comfortable circles with her thumb.

"Neither is Hans. He may have done a huge mistake but he's nothing close to that" she countered. I actually felt sorry for her. After that talk I had with Hans… she had so much faith in him and he didn't care for her at all… and he said it pretty clearly. He wanted me to freeze his heart, but what's the point in freezing something that is already frozen?

"We're not talking about Hans right now, we're talking about the way you behaved earlier. Since you came here you seemed to be doing nothing but testing my patience and now _this_? I'm starting to think that I somehow got on your Black List. Now give me one good reason why I shouldn't ask you to leave in this instant" Queen Skylynn closed her eyes and took a deep breath running a hand through her auburn bangs, softly gripping to them, revealing the scar on her eyebrow by doing so. It was bigger than I thought. It wasn't just a small thin cut on the corner of her brow, it cut there and stretched to her temple. Then she let her bangs fall back in place again and spoke up.

"I don't have any" she paused and took another deep breath "You're right I should have discussed this matter in a more civilized way and not let anger get the best of me… although you have no idea what we've been through… of one thing Theodore was right: I'm a queen, I have to act like it… the way I acted earlier wasn't even close" she paused "I sincerely apologize, but if you want to send me away, please allow me to stay until after the trial and, just to make things clear, you're not on my Black List it's… it's just my way of studying people" I looked at Anna, her eyes were clearly saying _'give her a chance'_. I gave her a small smile and turned back to the young queen in front of me.

"Look, Queen Skylynn. I'm willing to give you another chance. You're allowed to stay her for as long as you wish, but if something like that happens again, I'm going to have to ask you to pack your belongings and go back to your country" I said. The grey eyed queen gave us a smile and bowed her head.

"Thank you, Queen Elsa" she said "And I'm sorry for scaring you, Princess Anna"

"It's fine. I bet King Theodore, Prince Herbert and Prince Gordon were even more scared" Anna said with a bright smile. That got us both to smile along.

"I tend to have that effect on people when I'm angry" she answered. Then she seemed to recall something and turned back to me. "You called me 'Skylynn' earlier"

"Oh! I'm sorry… it must have slipped" I said feeling slightly embarrassed for the fact that I forgot her title when I addressed her. She was still a queen after all.

"No, it's fine. I actually wanted to ask both you and your sister a favor" Anna and I shared a look and turned back to her as she smiled "Call me Skylynn or Sky if you prefer" Anna seemed to be shocked with enthusiasm when she said those words.

"Alright, Skylynn" I said

"Of course, Sky!" Anna said excitedly "You can just call me Anna if you want to" she said.

"Or course, Anna" she said holding back a laugh at my sister enthusiasm "Well, then… I guess I'll go. I'll see you around, Anna" she said and turned to me nodding her head "Queen Elsa"

"Please, just Elsa" I said

"Then I'll see you around, Elsa" she said and walked away. As soon as she was out, Anna squealed in excitement clutching to my arm jumping up and down and then threw her arms around my neck for the excitement.

"She let us call her by her nickname! Her _nickname_ , Elsa!" she said happily "My idol actually told me I could call her with her nickname! Oh, my goodness! I have to tell Kristoff!" she kissed my cheek said a frantic 'bye-bye' and ran out of the room almost tripping on the door. I shook my head. This Skylynn was… still a mystery. I couldn't quite decipher yet. She was on Hans's side, but was it a good side or a bad one? I still had to figure it out. Then it hit me… Kristoff! He needed my help to wrap the ring box decently!

"Anna! Wait up! Come back here for a moment!" I shouted and ran out of the room frantically searching for my sister and making up an excuse to postpone her search for Kristoff… and almost tripping on the door on the way, but luckily I succeed in my mission. After that little fuss, I headed back to the dungeons. The doctor must have probably arrived and checked on Hans. As I got to the cell, I asked the guards if the doctor was there, they nodded and opened the cell door for me. As I got inside I saw the physician checking on an unconscious Hans placing his stethoscope on his bare chest.

"Doctor" I called. The man turned to me and bowed.

"Your Majesty" he greeted.

"How is he?" I asked motioning to Hans.

"Not good" the doctor said "And not a good patient either. I needed the guards to help me put him to sleep. He doesn't want anyone to even touch him" I took a look at Hans, now that he was shirtless, you could see he wasn't fine at all. He was underweight, I mean, his abs were there, but his ribs weren't supposed to be that visible. There was an old scar on his chest and another one on his side. Then I saw something that I hadn't noticed before, he was wearing a small golden necklace with drop-like pendant with a silver spot on the large end: Ying and Yung. It was the only valuable object he had and it represented the part of the symbol that meant _'You can be evil, but not completely'._ I stopped observing when the doctor turned back to me. "Would her Majesty want to know what's wrong with him?"

"Yes, please" I said

"As you can clearly see, he's being underfed, your Majesty, he needs to eat more and healthier" he began "You can also clearly see that bruise on his face, there are other two here and here, but they're older than the first one" he said pointing the two dark spots on his abdomen "His hand had a deep cut but I already disinfected it and changed the bandages. His foot will be fine though. It's just a bit swollen but he'll be okay, he probably fell somewhere"

"Can you tell where do all these injuries come from?" I asked.

"Beating, with no doubt, and those scars" he said pointing the one on his chest and on his side "surely come from a sword. They're old, of course, but this young man has been assaulted more than once, probably by more than one person"

"How can you be so sure?" I asked, hoping that the bad feeling I was having to disappear.

"Your Majesty, look at him. He's 6'1" tall, a prince, well trained in the military arts, I believe he is more than capable of defending himself in a fair fight" Then, Skylynn's words echoed in my head _'Go to the dungeons! Go take a look at his back!'_

"Have you checked his back?" I asked.

"No, I was about to" the doctor said and rolled him over to reveal his back "Dear Lord…" the doctor commented as he saw his back. I was shocked too with the amount of wounds on his back. Some were still open, others were infected, his skin was red and angry around the gashes. "These need to be disinfected and bandaged, now" the doctor said getting some bandages and other medical stuff.

"How can I help?" I said on instinct.

"Your Majesty, I don't think that-"

"Just because I'm queen it doesn't mean that I can't help aiding someone in need" I said.

"Very well" he said. He immediately went to clean up the wounds when he stopped "Your Majesty, I need to ask you to use your powers"

"What? My- my powers?" I said taken aback.

"I didn't exactly give him a strong sleeping injection… he can feel pain if it is too much. If you used your powers on his wounds once I clean them it would easier the pain and he shouldn't wake up"

"Alright" I said. The doctor then cleaned the first wound and as soon as he moved his hand I instantly passed a soft snow frost, careful not to lose control and hurt him. The doctor and I kept up with this until he also finished the disinfecting.

"Help me pull him up" he said and first we turned Hans around careful not to touch his wounds, then we sat him up "Okay, I'll you hold him up while her Majesty puts the bandages" I nodded and did as the doctor said. I still couldn't believe that the man that once tried to kill Anna and I and steal our kingdom, was now in these condition. What was even more disturbing was that his own brothers did that to him. A very small part of me was starting to regret scolding Skylynn, because if someone did that to Anna I probably would have done the same. I actually sympathized with her.  
Once I was done, we settled Hans down and I covered him with a blanket, then the doctor and I got out of the cell door and as we walked out of the dungeons, the man explained what had to be done.

"I don't know what you'll decide tomorrow during his trial, your Majesty, but if you let him live, he'll need to rest until his wounds are better, the bandages need to be changed every night and every morning and this ointment" he said taking out a small container from his bag "needs to be put on his wounds every time the bandage is changed. He also needs to eat more and healthier and once his back is healed enough, he'll be good to go and obey whichever punishment you decide tomorrow"

"I'll tell Kai to put someone in charge of his medication. Thank you for your assistance"

"Duty, your Majesty" he said, bowed and went his own way. Of one thing I was certain though: Hans might have been a frozen hearted beast, but his brothers are heartless monsters… Skylynn was telling the truth all along, no wonder why she looked like she was about to murder those three when she got out of that cell.  
I was worried about what was going to happen tomorrow. I never held a trial before and the idea of having a man's life in my hands, even if that man was Hans, it scared me. According to the law, now that I had revoked death penalty, he was supposed to be either shipped back to the Southern Isles and let his brothers deal with him, which after what I saw was like condemning him to death, or exile him, which would have ended up the same way, if not he would have been an attempted regicide on the lose who might give it another shot in another kingdom or come back for revenge. A chill ran down my spine when I realized there wasn't a law I had yet revoked as it was an old Arendellian law which my ministers seemed to still be very attached to and was supposed to be used in extreme situations: the execution _in exceptione_ , meaning the 'exception' execution. In an easier language, the law said: _if the monarch revokes death penalty, in cases of serious and extreme need, the ruler is allowed to sentence the prisoner to death._ The law was then followed by the series of situation in which that law was applicable and attempted regicide, or indeed regicide, along with high treason was among them, as the prisoner could be a threat to the other kingdoms as well.  
I knew tomorrow, someone was going to push on that with every card in their hands for doing so and I hoped with all my heart things weren't going to get to that. No matter who it was, killing someone by my hand or order was something I was not capable of bringing myself to do.

Tomorrow is going to be tough…

* * *

 **There you go! Let me know what you think about it and what you think it's going to happen with a review! What do you think of Skylynn? Elsa? Theodore and the ape brothers? Let me know!**

 **I've got a message for a Guest friend: please don't do that prank again, you gave me a heart attack! :-)  
I'm not offended, I actually laughed after that. Please don't scare me again! **

**HAPPY EASTER!**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	6. The Trial

**Hello everyone! I have another A/N you guys should read.**

 **So, I've received a couple of reviews telling me that my story is similar to 'Warm Hugs' by SarahRapunzel. I'll have you know that I spoke to the author and explained her that whatever similarity there is competely unintended.  
Here's the thing. These chapters I'm publishing are 3 YEARS OLD. Here is the thing: according to these reviews, SarahRapunzel and I had similar ideas. Difference is: she was smarter than me, wrote the story and published it immediately. I on the other hand, decided to finish this first and then publish it.  
I did not finish the story, but I want to start sharing it as I have more than 200 Word pages done. Point is, SarahRapunzel and I are not copying from one another and no one is stealing. She told me that she gave my story a look and to her they are pretty different (because they are!).  
To all those who don't believe me, you can all just ask her.**

 **With that beign said...**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Elsa's POV:**

Hans's trial was today.

I was nervous, very nervous… too nervous. I could tell Anna was too. Her usual talkativeness was gone. Today she had actually been very silent and 'Anna' and 'silent' in the same sentence is a bad oxymoron. That morning had been dreadful. Anyone could feel the tension in the air on their fingers. I was anxious because I had a man's life in my hands, Anna was anxious because _I_ was anxious and Kristoff… well… he was actually doing a pretty good job trying to ease the tension, by trying to make the morning as normal as possible and I was grateful for it. Not so much for myself, but more for Anna who seemed to lighten up a bit and seeing her calmer, made me feel a little better as well. As the time of the trial was nearing, Anna and I went back to our rooms to get ready.  
While I waited for Anna to finish, I sat in front of my vanity taking deep breaths. I could do this. I had to do this… but how? _No Elsa! You'll find a solution. Everything's going to be fine. Just stay calm… conceal, don't- no! I'm done with that. Breathe in.. breath out…_ I kept telling myself, taking deep breaths. It was in these moments that I wondered if my parents were this nervous on their first trial. I wondered what they would have done… what my mother would have done in my place.

It was then that I heard a knock on the door. I got up from the vanity and as I opened the door I found General Ryder standing tall and looking rather dashing in his uniform. It seemed like it was made just for him, showing off his broad shoulders and lean hunky arms. I bet he has a six-pack under his uniform- _Whoa! Wait! Where did_ _ **that**_ _come from? Bad Elsa!_ _ **Bad**_ _Elsa! That is_ _ **completely**_ _inappropriate!-_ I shook my head slightly sending those unqueenly thoughts away as General Ryder gave me a charming smile and spoke up.

"Queen Elsa" he greeted "You look wonderful this morning" he complimented making me blush slightly. "How are you, Milady?"

"I'm fine, General Ryder" I answered "What brings you here?" I asked politely

"If her Grace is ready I wondered if you'd like me to accompany you to the Juridical Palace and, please, your Majesty, I'd be rather grateful if you called me Storm" he said.

"Of course!" Anna piped up coming to the door, making me slightly jump in surprise since I hadn't realized she was ready as well.

"Oh, Princess Anna!" he said surprised, following with a bow "I didn't see you there. I thought you were already out"

"That's alright" Anna said smiling, it seemed like her whole worry for the trial was gone "Just give us a moment"

"No problem, your Highness" he replied and Anna grabbed my arm and closed the door.

"Anna, you're freaking me out. What's up with the sudden excitement?" I whispered, raising an eyebrow. Anna looked at me and started to smooth my hair and re-do the end of my braid. "What are you doing?" I asked as soon as she was done replacing a couple of my ice pins in my hair.

"There! Now you look perfect" she whispered back

"Anna what's all the fuss abou-" I abruptly stopped as realization dawned on me "You're not playing matchmaker, are you?"

"What? He came for you! He's tall, he's handsome, a brave warrior, he seems like a gentleman, why don't you give it a shot?"

"Really, Anna?"

"He's not even as burly as Kristoff"

"He probably just wants to ask or inform me about something over the trial; strictly professional"

"And since when do army generals start something 'strictly professional' by checking out the queen the moment she opens the door?"

"He wasn't checking me out!" I said feeling heat go to my cheeks.

"Yeah, and so were you" my eyes widen

"I wasn't checking him out!"

"Yes, you were. Come on, Elsa! What's so bad in liking a guy? He's cute, seems nice enough, just give it a try" I rolled my eyes.

"Alright, fine"

"You're Majesty, is everything alright?" Storm asked outside the room.

"Yes, just a second" I answered. Anna was gripping on my shoulders, nearly jumping up and down holding back a squeal "I said 'okay' but calm down. You seem to like him more than I do"

"Ha! So, you admit you kind of like him" she said playfully pointing an accusing finger at me.

"Well, I can't really say he's not an attractive guy" I admitted.

"Oh? Tell me sis, did you agree to give it a shot because I insisted or because you like the idea of having those blue-greenish eyes, broad shoulders and hunky arms all for you? I bet he has a six-pack under that uniform!"

"Anna!" I exclaimed with my eyes wide in bewilderment.

"What? It's not like you haven't thought about it!"

" _You_ are in a relationship!"

"Just because I'm dating Kristoff it doesn't mean I'm suddenly blind!" I shook my head "Don't worry, Elsa. I'll be right behind you" I smiled at her and opened the door. Storm was there and smiled at us.

"I'll have to excuse myself, although I'd love to join you, I think my boyfriend has been waiting for me long enough" Anna said. I shot a look at her and she smiled innocently. _You little traitor!_

"It's fine, your Highness" Storm said with a smile.

"Well, then. Bye-bye!" with that Anna waltzed away leaving me alone with General Ryder. _So much for being 'right behind me'._

"So, shall we?" he said holding out his arm for me

"We shall" I said and looped my arm through his. We walked silently through the castle making our way towards the Juridical Palace. General Ryder was silent for a while, but then he spoke up.

"So, your Majesty, rumor is this is your first trial" he said.

"It is, indeed" I answered.

"Are you nervous?"

"Kind of, I mean… both Anna and I have been directly involved in this and… yeah, I'm nervous" I said "I knew that I would have to take care of these matters sooner or later, but I wasn't expecting of having someone's life in my hands on my first trial"

"I'm not going to pretend like I know what you're feeling right now, but if it makes you feel any better I know you'll make the right choice"

"How can you be so sure? I talked to him and what he told me weren't exactly good things for him… and what he told me about Queen Skylynn wasn't good either"

"I bet he said he doesn't care about her and that she's just a stupid girl"

"More or less"

"Don't believe a word he said about her" I looked at him puzzled "Believe it or not, I used to be friends with Hans and Skylynn and she is the person he cares about more than anything in the world"

"How do you know them?" I asked surprised

"I…" he took a deep breath "I'm actually a Drakorian… I was one of the commanders of the army alongside Skylynn, then… things happened and… now I'm in the Southern Isles' army and Skylynn is pretty much angry at me because of the way I left… and if I have to be honest I don't blame her"

"Is there someone Skylynn is _not_ angry at?" I said sarcastically.

"That would pretty much be her people, Hans, Princess Anna, and you, Queen Elsa" he answered with a smile.

"Elsa, just Elsa" Storm smiled charmingly.

"Of course, Elsa" he stayed silent for a moment looking at me in the eyes with a small smile "Anyway" he said looking away "Being 4 years older than her, I had started my military career earlier than Skylynn. Before the revolution, King Landon's uncle came to the Southern Isles for some political matters and there I met Hans. We became friends and one day he introduced me to Skylynn. I stayed there for a while and then I returned to Drakora, but during my stay I could tell there was a special bond between those two half-siblings. A year later, the rebellion exploded. The moment it did, I immediately joined the rebels. To tell you the truth, I'm ashamed of having served someone like Hugh, but without the rebels I didn't have a choice. The Revolution gave me a the chance to finally do what was right for my country"

"Basically, you served Hugh for a while because you didn't have any opposition supporting the rightful king to go to" I stated, listening to his tale "But didn't you know about any sort of underground movements?"

"No. Hugh needed his men, so he basically locked us up in the castle, away from any sort of contact out of his control range. I had no idea there even was an underground movement until the first rebel attack. My father did though, he was leading the attack in fact. How he knew, I have no idea, but he kept me in the dark to protect me" he continued.

"Wait, so… your father was also a commander?"

"Commandant, actually. It's the Drakorian equivalent of General" he said proudly as I caught a glimpse of a small smile "But I'm going off topic now" he said and resumed his tale "When Skylynn managed to get into the army, many men were jealous of her. She was the youngest, she clearly told us she was the result of an affair and of course she was the only woman fighting in the front line in the army of rebels. Of course, there was King Landon's sister as well, but Princess Angel was rarely allowed into battle, for obvious reasons"

"Naturally" I replied. There was no need to explain: she was the second in line, that says it all.

"It happened that once there was someone plotting against King Landon. Those men framed Skylynn into being part of a scheme against the king and well. When I informed him about it, Hans got the first ship to Drakora and fought _for_ and _with_ her to prove her innocence and he succeeded. Skylynn could have been dead if it wasn't for him. You should have seen with what courage he faced Landon and persuaded him into giving him time to prove him Skylynn's loyalty and punish those who framed her. He didn't just save Skylynn, he helped her figure out who was really behind the scheme. With Hans' help, Skylynn organized the perfect strategy to incriminate who was really behind it" he paused and looked at me "We were under assault once. Hugh had discovered our hideout and sent some of his men to destroy us. During that fight, one of Hugh's men saw that Landon had his back on him, so he took the chance and charged. I was about to throw myself to save my king, but Skylynn was faster. The moment Landon turned around, she basically threw her arms around him and let that dagger sink right through her back… I then took care of that soldier" Storm paused looking away for a moment "When the fight was over I immediately informed Hans of what happened and two days later he was in Drakora by Skylynn's side. Like Landon and I in those days before his arrival, Hans never left her side either. He would just sit there and hold her hand or lay down beside her and rest only when he really couldn't take stay awake anymore. He watched her over like a hawk. More than once Landon and I had to personally go to him and get him to go eat something while we would have stayed to watch her over" he paused as he remembered "That wound was very deep and she had lost a lot of blood, our healers weren't sure she was going to make it. When Skylynn finally woke up, Hans was there and you don't know with how much affection and relief he hugged her and kissed her cheek, because of how happy he was that she was alive. I remember that Skylynn told me that a couple of days later, Hans came to visit her in the infirmary and begged her to go back to isles. She told me that when she asked why he wanted her to go back, he had said: _'I want you to come back because I can't bear the idea of losing you'._ Skylynn stayed though and Hans never came back to Drakora, not even when she took that arrow for Landon, but not because he didn't want to. Sky had asked me not to tell Hans anything because she didn't want him to freak out like that, anymore. To say he was out of his mind with worry is an understatement" he paused.  
That made me think… again. Actually it made everything even _more_ confusing! Who is that man who's fate is in my hands?! When Skylynn and Storm talk about him he seems like a good man, but then I think about what he did to us and what he said when I went to talk to him, that it just confirms that inside that prison cell, there is a murderer. It's just so confusing! Then Storm spoke up again"These were the only examples I could witness with my own eyes, please consider it once you get in there"

"I will" I said. There was a long silence, the only sound was the one coming from our footsteps as we walked outside towards our destination "This is all very confusing" I complained "If Hans is such a good man as you and Skylynn describe him to be, then why did he do what he did? He tried to kill both Anna and I and he said himself that he isn't sorry at all. I was willing to hear his side of the story to see why he would do such a thing, thinking that maybe there was some good in him, but he killed off that idea as soon as he opened his mouth"

"I don't know, Elsa. He's… he's not an easy person to understand"

"Something Skylynn took after really well, along with the irritating cocky attitude" I commented. Storm chuckled.

"That is Skylynn for you. But don't worry about the cockiness, it's just the character she decided to play"

"Well, she's very good at playing it. It comes natural" I replied with a small smile, Storm chuckled a little but didn't say anything else. Silence fell among us again, for a moment, then curiosity got the best of me "Storm, why did you leave the Drakorian army?" I asked curiously. His eyes darkened at my question. I bit my lip regretting it "I'm sorry, you don't need to answer if you're not comfortable with it"

"Thank you" he said gratefully "But just to make things clear, I didn't betray king Landon and Skylynn. I didn't run away… I will eventually tell you why, I promise" he said. I had thought about it, why leaving the Drakorian army to join the Southern Isles? But looking at him, his bright blue eyes were sincere. He wasn't lying at all, he didn't betray Skylynn and Landon.

"I suppose you had your good reasons" I concluded. He smiled slightly and looked away.

"So" he began "I see that her Majesty isn't married yet" he said changing the subject.

"No, I'm not. What about you?" he smiled.

"I've had a few girlfriends, but it didn't work with either of them so… I'm a bachelor"

"A few?" I asked slightly surprised. He didn't seem like the womanizer type.

"Two, to be specific. Not being an aristocrat has it's perks after all, and one of them is having a bigger possibility to test the waters until I find _The One_ "

"Oh, that makes sense… it is a perk after all. I'm glad Anna found Kristoff"

"But they aren't married, yet"

"Keyword: _yet_ " I said with a small smile "Kristoff is actually planning on proposing this Saturday, but they're not getting married until at least seven months have passed" Storm raised an eyebrow "They've been together for just a month, so to avoid possible complications, let's sum it up this way, Kristoff and I made a deal when he came to ask for my blessing" he laughed at the explanation.

"Smart" Storm commented.

"Thank you" I answered with a smile.

"Are _you_ looking forward to it? To marriage, I mean"

"Well… If I want to get married, I hope it doesn't have to be for saving Arendelle. Don't get me wrong, if something happened to my kingdom and a marriage was needed to save it, I'd marry, but I hope to find _'the one'_. I want to marry for love, not for duty, even if my true love turns out to be one of my servants" he smiled, somehow satisfied with my answer.

"I suppose you have lots of suitors asking for your hand, you'll eventually find him someday" I sighed defeated.

"I used to have many suitors before I was crowned queen" I said looking down "Let's just say that ever since the Great Thaw, suitors have been… less frequent" I said sadly.

"It's because of your powers, isn't it?" he asked with a concerned voice as we stopped in front of the Juridical palace.

"Yes… after the Thaw, only two men came and both began their usual eloquent speech, but every time I said something, they kept telling me how right I am and how they agree with me even for the simplest things like tastes in music" I sighed "They're afraid of me, because of my powers. They may enjoy my presence but they are clearly afraid of becoming ice statues… that actually makes me more uncomfortable than they are" he remained silent, but I didn't hold his gaze.

"You don't have to be uncomfortable" Storm said in a soothing voice. That caught me off guard.

"What?" I asked puzzled. He turned to the side to face me directly, but when I let go of his arm, he kept holding my hand in his.

"You know, I believe it's actually a good thing you have less suitors, now" he said as his lips twitched upwards.

"Oh? And why do my lower chances of finding a suitable husband seem to delight you, General?" he smiled.

"One simple reason, your Majesty: less suitors for you mean less competition for me" he said holding my hand in both his "I'll see you after the trial, Elsa" he said, brought my hand up and kissing the back of it, then he left turning back once flashing me a smile and then entering the building. I stood there looking at him like… an utterly complete royal idiot. _Did he just basically say that he's interested in_ _ **me**_ _? Well, he didn't exactly say it but_ … my thoughts were interrupted when I felt someone placing his arm on my left shoulder and two hands grabbing my right arm. I looked at my left and saw Kristoff smirking down at me, then to the right and saw Anna with a fake vague smile. I looked at Kristoff, then at Anna, then back to Kristoff, then back to Anna.

"May I help you?" I asked. Anna smirked.

"Looks like someone caught General Ryder's eye" Kristoff said with a smirk. I blushed at the comment "I talked to him once, he seems nice enough. I approve" I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, and since when do I need _your_ approval?" I asked.

"Well since I'm your soon-to-be… uhm…" he trailed off remembering Anna was here, so he waved it off "You just do" he concluded

"Soon-to-be what?" Anna asked curiously.

"Yes, Kristoff. Soon-to-be what?" I added smirking. _I'd love to see how he's not going to blow the surprise this time._

"Soon-to-be… guy best friend!" he said. I gave him an impressed side smile. _Nice save!_

"Soon-to-be guy best friend? I hope you can hold the competition with Olaf around" Anna said.

"Oh, guys! So much attention! This is such a boost to my ego!" I said jokingly. Anna laughed and looped her arm around mine.

"Now, back to the topic" she said

"Yeah, tell us everything!" Kristoff said.

"In every detail"

"Juicy details. From his eye color to his foot size"

"Foot size doesn't matter" I countered.

"Ha! So you admit you like him!" he said.

"Because I don't care about his foot size? How does that make any sense?!"

"It does. Foot size is very important"

"Oh, really?"

"Yes. Come to think of it, if you don't know his foot size, how are you going to buy him new shoes for your anniversary?

"Hey, slow down Kristoff, that can wait" Anna said

"Okay, then how are you going to buy him boots as a lucky charm when he goes to war?" he continued.

"I'd rather give him a bracelet as a lucky charm" I said.

"See! You like him! You're already thinking about gifts for him"

"Me?! I'm countering your crazy fantasies about my love life"

"There! You see! You said 'love life', you like him"

"Because I said 'love life'?"

"Everything has some sort of secret meaning when it comes to love, Elsa dear" Anna and I shared a slightly shocked look. "Oh, and I want to be the first-" he glanced at Anna "- okay- the second to know when he's finally taking you out on a date, because if you want, Anna and I can help you prepare for it. Anna with the dressing up and make up and I'll give you an opinion of the result from a man's point of view. Oh! And when you two get married, please, please, pleeeeease, let me and Sven carry the rings! Oh, and I can take care of ice to keep the champagne cold at the reception?" he finally noticed our freaked out glances "What?"

"What the heck, Kristoff?" Anna commented.

"What?"

"Why are you being such a _girl_?" I finished

"I'm not being a girl!" he complained.

"Yes, you are. One Anna is enough, I don't need another one"

"Hey!" Anna complained "I didn't ask or suggest any of that"

"No, but you were about to"

"Yes, I was, but that's not the point"

"Well, let's look at the bright side. At least he didn't suggest he'd put nail polisher on my nails while you do my hair"

"That was my next proposition" Kristoff said.

"Kristoff!" Anna and I said shocked.

"I'm kidding!" he said "This is actually my first up-close royal gossiping… let me have a little fun!" Anna shook her head exhaling deeply.

"And I date you… I've come to this realization" she said.

"Sorry, you chose to" Kristoff said smiling at her.

"Sadly, that's true" Anna said hiding a smile

"And Kristoff?" I said.

"Yeah?"

"Paw off my shoulder" he immediately obliged huffing as I smirked and Anna snickered next to me.

"So, back to the topic what did you two talk about?" Anna asked me.

"He told me some stuff about the trial. He actually used to be friends with Hans and Skylynn, but now Hans is where he is and Skylynn is angry at him for the way he left the army to join the Southern Isles"

"You mean, she's angry at him because he ran away?" Kristoff said.

"No, he said he didn't ran away and betray Skylynn and King Landon, but he didn't exactly say why he left, he was uncomfortable about it but said that he might tell me one day" I told them.

"I'm sure he had his good reasons" Anna said.

"I said the same thing" I added.

"Then, what else did you talk about?" Kristoff asked.

"He asked if I was looking forward to marriage" I started carefully. Anna and Kristoff's eyes lit up.

"This is getting interesting" he commented "Keep talking"

"Well, he said that I shouldn't be uncomfortable because of my powers and that he's delighted about the fact that I have less suitors because that means less competition for him, then he kissed my hand and walked away" Anna and Kristoff's jaw fell to the floor.

"OH MY GOD!" Anna squealed.

"What?"

"HE LIKES YOU! He _sooo_ likes you!"

"But he didn't actually say it"

"Gosh, Elsa! You're dense when it comes to love" Kristoff said.

"Excuse me?" I said glaring at him.

"He's right" Anna said "He pretty clearly said he's interested in you"

"He's happy that you don't have a lot of suitors anymore, so he might have higher chances to win you over" Kristoff said.

"OH MY GOD! ELSA, THIS IS GREAT!" Anna said hugging me.

"Hey, Anna. Maybe your big sister is about to find someone who might _melt_ her heart" Kristoff said "Maybe I'll finally get a hug" I glared daggers at him

"Kristoff…" I warned him.

"… shut up" he finished for me. I gave him a satisfied smile. My smile faded when I saw the guards accompanying Hans along with King Theodore and the Princes and headed over to the building. Hans was not fine and you could see it. But at least he looked better now. His hair was a bit shorter, parting in the middle, the shabby beard was gone and so were the sideburns and to tell you the truth he looked better without them. His old peasant clothes gone and replaced with clean ones. But the bruise on his face was evident, as his rawboned cheeks and limp were.

"It's time" I said. Kristoff and Anna looked to where I was looking, noticing Hans and his brothers, they gave me a nod and as Kristoff took Anna's hand, the three of us headed inside the building. I walked and sat on my judge throne, Anna let go of Kristoff's hand and sat next to me and Kristoff stood by her side, tall and mighty, puffing out his chest and crossing his arms, like a bodyguard. When all the aristocrats got inside, Hans was brought in and handed over to two guards who brought him in the middle of the room. I found Skylynn's face among the crowd as she was glaring at her other half-siblings. As soon as Hans was standing in the middle of the room, the trial began. We quickly reviewed what happened last month and then called as witnesses the aristocrats. They all confirmed that he had lied to them, making them believe Anna was dead and that they had exchanged wedding vows. Some of them also accused him confirming what both Anna and I had seen, him raising his sword to kill me and obviously accused him of high treason.

"Your Majesty" one of the noblemen began "This man is a danger to Arendelle and the other kingdoms. He showed us very well what he is capable of. He's a master liar, a manipulator, a murderer who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Of course, all of us here remember that he took care of the kingdom while both our beloved queen and princess were gone, but after the despicable crime he tried to commit, it's crystal clear now that he has fooled us all. This man is nothing but a devil with the face of an angel and deserves no mercy, your Majesty"

"The Marquise is right" began another nobleman "If he managed to fool all of us with his sly mind, he is more than a danger to everyone"

"Your Majesty" said a woman as she stood up to talk. She wasn't an aristocrat, she was a delegate of my people's lower classes, next to her sat the middle class delegate "This man may have done great wrong to you, but you have to consider this" she began "When you and the princess were gone, this man personally gave us blankets to warm up, he opened the castle gates and fed us with warm food and in all took good care of us, of the kingdom and, forgive me if I say so, but we are in debt with him. You need to consider this" I nodded.

"Oh please, Your Majesty!" called another man, an aristocrat "This man can't be let free! He may have done these things, but it was aimed to gain our trust and take over the kingdom"

"Queen Elsa, Princess Anna" called another man "I believe it's time for your sentence" and hell broke lose

"Send him back to the Isles, let King Theodore hang him!" one said.

"Put him in jail for life!" said another

"You can't exile him! He's too dangerous to be wondering around kingdoms" shouted another one

"Execution _in exceptione_!"

"Yes! The execution _in exceptione_!"

"Execution _in exceptione_! That's what he deserves"

"Everyone quiet!" I said standing up from my seat. The room became quiet "I need a few minutes to discuss his fate with my sister then-"

"What?!" exclaimed Prince Gordon standing up in disbelief . Hans kept quiet for the whole time "What's there to decide?! He is a shame to House Westerguard and a danger to everyone! Execute him!"

"He tried to kill you! He committed treason! He left Princess Anna to die! That man is not worthy of royalty! Something that can fool everyone like that by only using his words, leave someone to die and getting so close to kill a person who, news say, had her _back_ turned towards him is an abomination!" Prince Herbert boomed standing up "If you don't want to execute him, send him back to us and we'll deal with this low-life scumbag ourselves"

"Prince Herbert and Prince Gordon, I'm speaking and I'd be grateful if you two remain quiet until I'm done" I said looking sharply at them "As I was saying, I'll have to discuss my judgment with my sister and-"

"-But, you Majesty! Think about what he did to you!" Gordon shouted "That man doesn't deserve any mer-"

"-Prince Gordon, I said be quiet until I'm done, or I'll tell my guards to escort you out of this court room" I said narrowing my eyes at him. He seemed to get the message and shut up "As I was saying, I'll discuss his sentence with Princess Anna and decide what his fate will be because as you all well know, I have recently revoked death penalty so-"

"Queen Elsa, this is crazy!" boomed Prince Herbert "You can't just-"

"Prince Herbert and Prince Gordon!" Anna's voice erupted with an unexpected severity, as she stood up as well "The Queen has been very clear. If you two don't know how to behave yourselves when the queen is speaking during court, then you are very welcome to walk out of this room. The exit is right there, if you two are to disturb this court again then I'll have the guards accompany you to it" she said with an unexpected authority.

"As much as the Princess and I resent this man for what he did to us, my judgment can't be influence by personal business, so to make it clear to the both of you, yes, Princess Anna and I need to discuss his fate" I said looking at them sternly. Gordon was about to talk again but I cut him off " _That is_ my decision" I said firmly.

"Queen Elsa, Princess Anna" said a feminine voice and Skylynn walked to the front, a few feet in front of Hans, all eyes set on her. "May I have permission to speak?" she asked standing tall and royal in her uniform. Hans' head snapped towards her.

"Permission granted" I said. All eyes were set on her and the court room fell into a heavy silence as Queen Skylynn confidently walked up to me.

"Ever since I got here, I've spent some time in your library and I took the liberty to look through most of your law books and found something that doesn't require you to judge anyone, but to only give your consent" she paused as all eyes were on her and small whispers could be heard "In Hans' defense, I appeal to the Arendellian right of substitution. Take _me_ in his place"

"What?!" Anna exclaimed along with other people who gasped in astonishment.

"What?!" exclaimed Hans. He walked up to her shoving lightly her shoulder "Skylynn, what are you doing?!" he hissed.

"Saving you" she answered

"Hey! I will not be responsible for your life!"

"You would do the same for me"

"No, I wouldn't!" he snapped

"Quiet" I said raising my hand "Please explain yourself, Queen Skylynn"

"Queen Elsa, this is stupid!" Hans said taking a step forward only to be stopped by Skylynn's hand on his chest

"No, Hans. You are the one being stupid" Queen Skylynn said walking past him "Your Majesty, according to this law, who appeals to it has the right to give the conditions of the substitution and these are my conditions" she began "You decide which punishment is best suited for Hans and how long you want him to bear the punishment, but if he tries anything or tries to escape… _I_ will personally answer to the consequences. This is what your law says. I appeal to the Arendellian right of substitution and these are my conditions"

"One question, Queen Skylynn… _why_?" I asked trying not to show my shock.

" _Because_ he's my brother" she said with confidence. The room was filled with gasps and shocked comments at the revelation. When Skylynn first revealed to us that Hans was her half-brother, she made it pretty clear that it was a secret. Now, she had admitted it in front of at least a hundred aristocratic delegates from other countries, revealing with confidence that the ruler of Drakora, the kingdom of warlords, was a bastard. Anna touched my shoulder getting my attention. I motioned the grey eyed queen to wait for a moment and turned around to speak with Anna privately.

"Elsa, you can't agree to this" she whispered still in shock.

"What am I supposed to do? Most of the people here want him dead and I don't want to kill anyone" I answered.

"There has to be another way, you can't imprison her"

"There isn't, Anna. If there were I'd pick it, believe me. This is the only way"

"Elsa, you're the queen, you can do something about it" Anna said.

"Not in this case. My power is very limited right now. I revoked the death penalty, but the nobles what me to apply the exception execution. If I don't kill him my position will be questioned and so will my authority. Exiling him would only give him the chance to try what he did to us again. If I allow the execution, revoking death penalty would have been useless, what would have been the point of revoking the law, then?" I paused "My hands are tied, Anna" I said with an apologetic look, although I was very, very, _very_ reluctant in this choice. I turned around and walked to Skylynn until I was standing in front of her, as her bright grey eyes made an intense eye-contact with my blue ones.

"Queen Skylynn, you do realize that if I agree to this you'll have to stay here in Arendelle for as long as it is needed?" I asked cautiously.

"That is not a problem, my kingdom is in good hands. Princess Angel of Drakora, my sister-in-law, is in charge" she explained.

"And you do realize that if Hans tries anything worth of the execution _in exceptione_ … _you_ will be executed in his place?" She glanced at Hans once and met my gaze once again.

"I understand" There was something in her eyes that made me suspicious, there was something else.

"This will be the last chance you have to back out of this" I said looking up at her in the eyes "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"Yes" she said with confidence. Then I got it. I understood. She communicated her real intentions through her eyes. She had made up her mind and she knew what she was doing. She needed my trust though… and this could have been the biggest mistake of my life, but something told me that it was the right choice. Her words, Storm's words, what I've seen on Hans's back echoed through my head and the lower class delegate was right, he did take good care of the kingdom in mine and Anna's absence. Reluctantly, I allowed myself to trust her for this once.

"So be it" I decided "Hans Westerguard shall remain here to pay his debt with justice and with us, but one wrong move and you will answer it, Queen Skylynn. You'll be free to walk around the castle but remember that your life now, is in _his_ hands" I said and took a few steps back "Guards, take him back to the dungeons" I said. The guards obeyed. Hans looked at Skylynn with disbelief written all over his face and shook his head with a look of defeat in his eyes. As everyone left the palace through whispers and comments over what just happened, the former prince was taken away.

* * *

"Okay, so what was that all about?" Anna asked as she followed me into our room.

"What was what?" I asked pretending I didn't know what she was referring to.

"Don't play dumb, Elsa. It doesn't suit you. What was going on between you and Skylynn? You two were clearly having a silent conversation. Why did you allow her to take Hans' place?" Anna said shocked.

"Tell me Anna, if I were in Hans' position, what would you have done?" I asked.

"I'd try to save you, of course, you're my sister! But it's different! I know you!"

"That's what Skylynn is doing and for the same reasons"

"No, she just got herself a one way ticket to get exiled if not executed for something she didn't do!" Anna countered.

"No, Anna. She knows what she's doing very well" I replied

"Enlighten me" she said crossing her arms

"Gosh, Anna! Why do you think she's doing this? She wants us to give him a second chance"

"I'm _not_ giving him another chance" my sister snapped indignantly.

"Not a chance with us" I corrected "A chance in life! What she did was a message to him that said: ' _if you care about me, this is your chance to prove it'_. Don't you get it?" Anna seemed to understand.

"She's testing him" she realized.

"She asked me to give him a chance to try to make amends"

"And you gave it to him" she said sardonically.

"What was I supposed to do?" I said raising my hands in defeat. Anna sighed taking my hands.

"I know… as you said: your hands were tied" the was silence "What are we doing about him?" she asked.

"I'll think of something" I said with a light shrug.

"You sure you don't want me to help you thinking of something to punish him?" she asked "It has to be strict and severe enough to make him feel the pain he put us through" I held back a smile.

"What do you suggest?" Anna's blue eyes widen lighting up.

"Ooh- ooh! I got it!" she said excitedly letting go of one of my hands and placing her hand on my arm after patting it excitedly. I giggled at her face.

"Shoot"

"We should kick him in the balls!" I stared at her.

"Now, I _really_ like the way your brain works, but I don't think that's exactly what we're looking for"

"Oh, I liked the idea!" she said pouting.

"I won't deny it, it is tempting" we laughed at the idea.

"Now, seriously. What are we going to do with him?" she asked. I shook my head with a smile and took her face in my hands.

" _You_ don't need to worry about it. I'll think of something and if I need your help I'll ask you, okay?" Anna frowned but didn't complain.

"Alright, fine" I smiled and kissed her forehead.

"I have a meeting now" I said walking to the door.

"I'll see you later" Anna called back.

"Okay, later" and with that I left the room. Was that really the right choice? I had no clue. My head had been screaming not to do so. If Hans did something, the head of the queen of Drakora was at stake and a war with her kingdom was the last thing I needed. But then again, what other options did I have? I killed him, my law change was pointless. I let him live, my position was questioned. That third option Skylynn had given me was definately the most risky, but the only way out.  
For once, I followed my instincts and now, all I had to do, was hope I made the right choice.

* * *

 **And there you have the trial! So what did you think of it? What is your first impression of Storm? Tell me with a REVIEW! Next chapter will have a bit of Hans's POV!  
Your thoughts on the story? CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS WELL ACCEPTED, free insults are not and your reviews containing them shall be deleted as they are disrespectful and useless to my improvement as an author.**

 **!REVIEW CHALLENGE DAY!**

 **Can we get the story to 40 REVIEWS? ;-)  
**

 **See you next chapter! :-)**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	7. Another Talk in the Dungeons

**I decided to make you guys and a certain Guest (you know who you are) happy and give you another chapter before Friday as you passed my REVIEW CHALLENGE ;-)**

 **This chapter is shorter, but it gives you a little view of how Hans is living this situation.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Hans's POV:**

I sat in my cell bunk, thinking over what happened yesterday in the court room. Skylynn… she… she's such an idiot! I didn't want her to put herself in danger because of me. I lied to her in that room and I lied to Elsa (lying it's something that I've learnt to do really well), I would have done the same for Skylynn. I would have done it a thousand times over if I had to. The only person I was mad at was myself for not stopping her and Elsa for allowing her. Now she got my hands tied, not with a thick rope but with razor thin strings that can cut my wrists at the smallest wrong move. I meant what told Elsa, I meant every word. This situation I am in is not mercy, this is so much worse than that. I don't want their mercy, but then again, I wasn't here because of the sisters' mercy, I was here for Sky's stubbornness. My train of thoughts was interrupted when the cell door opened and three people entered the room. It was none other than Queen Elsa, Princess Anna and Skylynn… _dang it!_

"My, my, Anna! It's so… _not_ nice to see you again" I sneered getting up from my bunk.

"The feeling is mutual" she answered glaring at me "And it's _Princess_ Anna to you"

"Funny… I thought you wouldn't allow your little sister to see me, Elsa. Not after I broke her heart" I said with venom.

"First, it's _Queen_ Elsa" she snapped "Second-"

"-I'm sorry to burst your ego bubble" continued Anna, finishing Elsa's sentence "But I got over you after 15 minutes, so… no, I'm not really that heartbroken"

"And third" cut in Skylynn "Queen Elsa and Princess Anna are here to inform you about your punishment, and since I am now responsible for your actions here, I am to know what your punishment will be"

"Oh, how wonderful! Please, your Majesty, be gentle on me!" I said sarcastically

"She's been _very_ gentle with this punishment" Anna said glaring at me.

"Then, come on. Talk" I said leaning on the wall and crossing my arms. Elsa sighed and shook her head.

"Right now, you need to recover from your wounds" she began "As soon as you're healed, you'll be working with the ice-harvesters alongside Kristoff. We already informed him about this and he will be watching you like a hawk. Every morning from 6 a.m. till sunset you'll go to the mountains with the ice-harvesters. Whatever Kristoff says, you do, no questions asked. If he comes to me complaining about your behavior, I'll make sure to put you in the coal mines. Sunday you'll stay here in the cell"

"Doing what, exactly?"

"Think over about your actions" Anna snapped.

"Sorry, but I had a month to think it over and guess what? I don't regret anything"

"You are such an idiot" Skylynn commented.

"I could say the same about you" I snapped at her.

"I'm not the one rotting in a dungeon" she said with a shrug. I remained quiet. _That was a low blow... but I deserved it._

"Anyway" said Elsa "This is the punishment I've decided for you, any questions?"

"Yes" I said. They looked at me expectantly. Elsa with her head held high, Anna glaring at me with her arms crossed and Skylynn clutching her arms behind her back "Can you leave?" I asked. Anna's jaw fell on the floor.

"You're inside a cell, we come tell you about your punishment and you… Gosh! The nerve!" she complained.

"We're done here, let's go Anna" Elsa said and was about to walk away when Skylynn stopped her.

"May I have a moment with him?" she asked. Elsa's blue eyes set on me for a second then back to her.

"5 minutes" she said and exit the cell with her sister trailing behind her. As soon as the cell door was closed, Skylynn walked over to me. A heavy silence ruled among us as I went to sit back on my bunk exhaling deeply.

"Why did you do that?" I asked her "Why do you want to save me so badly?"

"You're my brother, Hans. You would do the same for me. Yes, you've been an idiot and screwed up badly, but I know who you are and you're not a murderer or a traitor" she started softly "What I don't understand is why did you have to do this? I mean, why did you even think you pull off such a… suicide mission all on your own? I have to admit, it's impressive that you actually managed to get that far, but you are not the bad guy" she said

"Does it matter anymore?" then it hit me "Wait- you're actually _complimenting_ me for the way I almost took over the kingdom? Good thing you keep saying I'm not the bad guy"

"To take over a kingdom the way you did requires smarts and you have them, but doing it how you tried to also requires you to be evil at heart, if you were, you wouldn't have made the mistake of leaving Princess Anna alive" that got me by surprise.

"So, you're saying I should have killed her when I got the chance"

"I'm saying that if you really were the bad guy, you would have… but you didn't"

"This doesn't change the fact that I committed treason, I almost killed two people, I am doing everything I can to have them hate me-"

"-Yes, about that. Why?" I took a deep breath and ran a hand through my hair, then I looked up at her.

"You really want me to say it, don't you?" I asked

"Yes. Now spill it"

"I asked Elsa to freeze my heart when you two came to visit"

"WHAT?!" she exclaimed shocked.

"Sky, what's the point of apologizing to them, now? What's the point in having you save me? After that little show I pulled off and what I said to them here, they won't see anything in me but the monster who caused them pain. When I left the Southern Isles to come here the only thing I had was some dignity and now I lost… everything. I meant it when I asked Elsa to freeze my heart" I paused and sighed "You're wasting your time here" I said holding my head down. Part of my mind screamed _IDIOT!_ But part of me was also relieved. I had promised myself not to say anything to anyone and die like the caged animal I was, but this was Skylynn's force, she knew how to make me talk. She was the only one I wanted to talk to, the one who has always seen me as more than just the unlucky 13th prince, less than a spare. She saw me as her Big Brother.  
Sky walked over to me until she stood right in front of me and took my face in her hands forcing me to meet her gaze. Her stormy grey eyes, a trait she took after her mother, looked at me tenderly as she ran a hand through my hair.

"You still have me, Hans. I'm here for you and I'm not going anywhere" she said "Don't mess this up Hans, but don't do it for me, do it for you" Then I couldn't contain myself anymore as I wrapped an arm around her waist and hugged my little sister as she held me back. We stayed like that for a moment, but then I realized what I was doing. _Conceal. Don't feel. Conceal. Don't feel. No emotions!_ I abruptly let go of her pushing her away and stood up again walking away, not daring to meet her gaze.

"You're wasting your time here with me. You're a fool if you think that working for Queen Elsa is going to make me change, because I also meant what I said about my actions" I said coldly "I'm actually proud of them because at least everyone knows what I'm capable of, now, the only thing I regret was not killing Anna when I could, if it wasn't for her, I could be king right now"

"And you're a fool if you think I'm going to believe to all the crap you're spilling" Sky retorted.

"Leave, Skylynn. It's best for the both of us"

"You don't have to hold the weight of this on your shoulders alone, I'm here to help you. Don't shut me out, Hans. I'm sorry if I wasn't there for you these past two years but, now I can really help you. You'll just have to trust me, we can work this out together, you won't have to hide anymore. I'm going to be right here" _God! Why does she have to make everything difficult?!_

"Sky…" I began "go back to Drakora, your life is there now. There's nothing here for someone like you. You think that you can help me, but the truth is that you'd do so much better without me. Go back home and steer clear of me. I don't want your help, Sky. Why don't you want to understand, or rather, accept that? I don't want you to be here, I don't want you to come and play heroine to save my butt because as you could well see, I screwed everything up. If I were you I would leave tonight and never return so you can be safe back home, I can blow this up too and make it easier for me"

"I won't, because if there is something you taught me is that you don't ever back down from a promise. Yesterday, I basically gave Queen Elsa my word and I'm not breaking it. I'll be right here to make sure you prove yourself to the Queen and the Princess until they decide you can have your freedom again" she said determent.

"Damn it, Skylynn! You're such a stubborn fool. I'll never have my freedom!"

"Yes, you will! I'm working on this but you need to put some effort in it too"

"For _what_? I'm trapped and nothing is going to change that! I just put myself in a situation with no escape!"

"There's always a way out, Hans"

"Not in this case, and even if there was what will I do once I get out of here?"

"You can come to Drakora with me. You can count on me. You're not alone"In any other moment I would have run to her to hug her, but now, I couldn't afford it. She is the best little sister anyone could ask for, but I couldn't let her in. Not this time.

"Skylynn you want to save me but you can't! Leave me alone and get out of here" in that precise moment the door opened

"Queen Skylynn, 5 minutes are up" said Queen Elsa coming into the cell.

"Just a second" she told her and then turning back to me. I already knew what she was about to do and that meant I had to hurt her even if I didn't want to. She was leaving me no other choice. "Why Hans? Why are shutting me out? Why won't you talk to me? Why don't you _trust_ me anymore?"

"Because you were stupid enough to buy all those years of faking, Skylynn!" I snapped looking at her in the eyes "Truth is, I never trusted you, I have never _cared_ for you. All I ever did for you was out of pity, you were just an experiment to me, an experiment to see how good I could get with manipulation and now I can say I'm really good at it. I mean-" I paused laughing without humor "Look at you, the great heroine, the Queen of Drakora, in my cell room after willingly self-condemned yourself to death in my place, just to get me out of here" for a moment Skylynn looked at loss of words, but this wasn't enough to make her get out of the room and never come back. It wasn't enough to convince Queen Elsa of the horrible person I really am. I had to hit Skylynn's sore spots.

"I can say I'm a very good puppet master" I continued "You're just so blinded by all the lies I've fed you with that you are so determent to find some good in me. I got you wrapped around my finger" _Hit One: bring down guard_ "I wonder what Landon would say if- oh right!- he can't say anything he's _dead_ , how stupid of me! He wouldn't be too happy to find out his precious little wife is so gullible after all, would he? Face it Skylynn, you don't really want me out of here because of genuine fraternal affection towards me, you want me out of here because without someone to rely on you are totally and completely lost. When we were younger you had me, your 'Big Brother', then you had Landon, and now that Landon is dead, you are coming back to me. You may have become a queen, but the truth is that without someone having your back you are as dangerous as a hay straw. Even now, you're acting all big and mighty queen because you have Queen Elsa and Princess Anna backing you up" _Hit Two: direct attack. And now Hit Three: finish off._ However Sky's silver eyes turned cold and serious.

"So all I've ever been to you was just a puppet" she said flatly. No emotion. Nothing. She was stoic. I could not decipher if I had actually hurt her or not. Before answering her I turned around. I couldn't hit her with another blow looking at her in the eyes, I just couldn't "Then why did you go through all that trouble if I meant less than nothing to you?"

"It takes a little sacrifice to train your perfect hunting dog" I replied coldly.

"So, the only reason you spent all those years with me was just so you could… test your mind gaming skills" It wasn't even a question, but her voice was sardonic, not hurt.

"Why else would I waste my time with my _worthless_ _**bastard**_ _ **half-sister**_? You should have never existed in the first place" I said. And that was the third hit. I had never called Skylynn 'bastard half-sister' before, like I never told her something like that last sentence. When I said those words, I felt disgusted with myself. I knew she had heard it before from our brothers… but never from me. Now I was just like them, but if she hated me… it was going to be best for the both of us. There was a moment of silence. Skylynn didn't answer. She remained quiet and shook her head.

"Queen Skylynn" Elsa called. Skylynn looked at Elsa, then back to me. She didn't have to say a word, her grey eyes spoke for her. I knew this was going to be hard and to drive Sky away from me, I didn't just have to hurt her, I had to psychologically destroy her, like I did with Elsa when I told her that her sister was dead because of her. Skylynn turned around and walked towards Elsa, then she stopped and turned back around.

"Don't blow it, Hans" she said and got out of the cell, it was just then that I noticed Anna was still there and she too heard what I told her… _better off like this._ Anna glared at me once and walked away with Skylynn. Elsa stood there for a moment and looked at me not with a glare, but with some sort of disappointment.

"This is why didn't want to freeze your heart, there is no point in freezing something already frozen" she said and then walked away as the guards closed the cell door. The moment they did, I threw myself next to the door placing my ear on it, hoping to eavesdrop the three girls speaking with one another, hopefully they didn't wait to go too far away from the heavy door so that I couldn't hear them. Fortunately the talked right away.

"Thank you for not freezing his heart, Elsa" I heard Skylynn say gratefully.

"Hu?" was her first response "Oh, you're welcome… I guess…" she said I couldn't see it, but I bet she was sharing an unsure glance with Anna, I could hear it in her voice.

"You're…" Anna began uncertainly "You're not fazed by what he said? At all?"

"No…well..." Skylynn started "Those were very low blows, indeed, but- come on!- Hans could do so much better than that" she said… I was hoping she didn't say that.

"What?!" exclaimed the two sisters.

"He wants me to hate him? He'd have to psychologically destroy me and let me tell you, after a war and other stuff, that's almost impossible and he knows that" she said… and she was right, I had to do worse than that.

"Don't you think you're expecting a little too much of yourself? He told you horrible things and, I'm sorry, but it seemed like he meant it" said Elsa. It wasn't really tactful, but I suppose she couldn't find a nicer way to say it. Frankly, if I were in her shoes, neither could I.

"That's exactly the point, Elsa" Sky said. Judging from the way she said it, I could just picture a smirk on her lips "Anna, how do you know when Elsa is lying or hiding something from you?" I heard her ask the redheaded princess. There was a pause, then Anna spoke up.

"I-… I don't know, actually. Maybe it's how she acts… or the way she says things, or the nicknames she gives me when she's hiding something" she said unsure.

"I don't give you nicknames when I'm hiding something!" complained Elsa.

"You do, you always say _'Anna, dear'_ , or ' _dear sister'_ every time you're hiding something"

"I don't"

"You do, deal with it" Anna cut short. I couldn't help the small amused smile appear on my lips. "Anyway" said Anna "I don't really know, it's more like a feeling I get. I kind of sense when she's lying or not"

"There" Sky began "That's exactly how I know when Hans is lying" Shesaid "Plus, it'll be really hard for him to mentally destroy me because he knows that after all the horrible crap I've been through in my life… I'd just get to add that" Skylynn added and I could just picture her shrugging with a smirk. After that there was silence and Skylynn's footsteps walk away. I suppose her last statement must have left the two sisters slightly shocked as they did not say anything, but I heard their footsteps follow my sister's a moment later.

My goal was to put a distance, a door, a wall, between me and Sky, and make sure Elsa and Anna hated me, instead, I succeeded in getting both the queen and princess to despise me even more, but made Skylynn even more determent in getting me out of this situation. I had failed

* * *

 **And there you have it! So... your thoughts on Hans? How do you think he's going to sort things out? What do you think of Skylynn? I hope you find her ambiguous other than irritating. Through out these first chapters what do you think of Skylynn's relationship with Elsa?  
**

 **A/N:  
If you find Skylynn irritating and full of herself: Good! Mission Accomplished! It's how I wanted you to feel about her right now.  
If you DO NOT find Skylynn ambiguous: ... epic fail on my side... oh, well. At least I tried.  
**

 **Let me know with a REVIEW! :-)**

 **See you on Friday! ;-)**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	8. The Autumn Festival

**Skylynn's POV:**

One of the perks of being queen is that: A) you get to have certain privileges and B) you get to do whatever you want. Problem is, the second perk doesn't count in another country, obviously. In fact, every time I want to see Hans I need to ask for Elsa's permission and guess what, I got a big fat 'No' for three days in a row. Today, is the third time I ask her to see Hans and her answer was 'No'. I've already bothered Elsa enough these days, but I have to admit, testing her patience is kind of fun. She's good at mind games, although she doesn't like them and that's the fun part. Anyway, I was in my room laying on my bed thinking about the events while drawing, it relaxed me, just like writing music and sword fighting, blame Hans for the last two. I still didn't understand Hans' behavior. For a second he acts in a way, and the second later he acts in another. This is something I tend do to as well, but I don't understand why he would put his defenses up with me too. What I didn't want to believe was the fact that he told me he wanted to die. He wanted Elsa to execute him, I mean, he asked her to freeze his heart! I'm glad Elsa didn't. She acts cold but her heart is nothing but warm. She's too good for her own safety, but she doesn't trust me yet, and I don't blame her.  
I was wrong about Anna, though, she makes it look like she has full trust in me but she doesn't, maybe she did learn something after Hans' little showdown and considering I'm his sister… I noticed how much Anna's opinion counts for Elsa and how much she is influenced by her little sister. If I get Anna to trust me completely, maybe I could get Elsa to trust me as well. I was knocked out of my thoughts when I heard a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" I asked sitting up with my back on the headrest

"It's Anna" said a voice from out the door.

"Come in" I said finishing a few details of the drawing. As I heard the door open and close, I looked up from the sketch and smiled at her. "Hey, Anna" I greeted.

"Hi, Sky" she said smiling back "I hope I'm not disturbing you"

"Oh, you can disturb me whenever you want"

"Hu?"

"Anything for my number one fan" I said with a friendly wink. Anna smiled widely.

"Thank you, Sky"

"Please, take a seat" I said patting the spot next to me on the bed. Anna seemed uncertain.

"Shouldn't I seat on the armchair?" she asked.

"I don't bite, Anna… only my psycho half-brothers" I said. Anna cracked a smile.

"It's just that you're the Queen of Drakora and… the heroine of the Revolution…so…" I smiled at her unexpected shyness.

"I thought I made it clear I didn't want such formalities when I told you to call me Sky or Skylynn. You don't need to be so formal around me, relax. As I said I don't bite" I smiled and patted the spot next to me again "Come take a seat" I repeated. Anna smiled again and walked to me sitting on the edge of the bed. "Much better" I said "Plus, it's weird having you treat me like I'm an elderly queen when I'm your age" I said. Anna laughed.

"It is weird, I'm not usually that formal even with Elsa. About that, who do you think is older between the two of us?" she asked with a challenging smirk.

"I think I am"

"No, I think I am"

"Month?"

"July" I raised an eyebrow.

"So am I" Anna eyed me with a playful suspicious face, holding back a laugh.

"Hmm…I think you're older then" she said.

"I hardly believe that. Day?" I asked.

"25th" she answered

"Told you" I said with a smile "28th"

"Ha! I'm older!" Anna said raising her arms in victory

"For 3 days" I added

"It also makes me 3 years and 20 days younger than Elsa"

"Yup…" Silence "Why are we discussing birth dates, again?" I asked

"I don't know" Anna said as we laughed.

"Now" I said with a clap of the hands "Back to business. I suppose you didn't come here just to see who was older between us, right?"

"Right, I didn't- wait- what are you drawing? Oh, you're left-handed! I didn't notice" she said scooting closed to me as I showed her my drawing. "Wow, nice swan" she complimented.

"Thank you" I said closing the sketchbook "So, you were saying?"

"Oh, yes! Uhm… okay, this is actually kind of important" she said as her joyful expression became more serious. I looked at her with a small nod to let her understand I was listening. "I've been doing some thinking since we last saw Hans and well… I'm sorry, but I don't think he is going play nice and not try anything. So I talked to Elsa and she agreed to let you off the hook, meaning that Hans will still receive his punishment but if he tries anything funny _he_ will pay for the consequences, not you. As the Queen of Arendelle, Elsa has the power to do so. But she also wanted this to remain a secret because, she… how should I put this?... she wants you to open your eyes, she can't understand how someone like you could be so attached to someone like him. Basically, she wants you to see Hans' true face, the one he showed us"

"That is not his true face" I said sternly "And, Anna, if this had to be a secret, why are you telling me?"

"Because as soon as Elsa agreed to letting you off the hook, I made some more thinking and it made me realize how familiar the situation you and Hans are in looks. It seems like it's me and Elsa again with other dynamics. You knew Hans before he came here, you claim to know him better than anyone else and you don't want him to shut you out. I know how it feels like" Anna paused "I know what it feels like to look up to someone whom you've lost track of, to look up to someone who shuts you out all of a sudden, I know how it feels like to look up to someone that somehow seems unreachable and although this person seems to want to have nothing to do with you, you believe in them and want to bring the _real_ them back. It has been like this for me and Elsa and I believe it is the same for you and Hans. Our situations are _so_ alike but at the same time so _different_. When Elsa thawed everything, for a moment I was afraid that she'd still be the 'Snow Queen' as in the _'frigid person'_ sense, but she wasn't. She's still the same Elsa that she was when we were kids, of course more mature, but-you know what I mean" I laughed a bit at the end.

"Yeah… our situations are kind of alike. Difference is, Hans doesn't have ice-powers, he wants to shut me out because he wants to be left alone, he wants me to hate him. Elsa didn't want to, she shut you out to protect you, I'm sure it pained her to not be able to be there for you when you needed her. Your sister loves you very much, anyone can see that and your opinion matters to her. She an independent woman, building up to be a great leader, but whenever you open your mouth she listens and keeps your words in mind. Hans… he's just like- well-… _I'm_ just like him. He's got a mind of his own, he is as stubborn as a donkey and our problem is that when we have an idea we don't listen to anyone. But we're very good people analyzers… which is confusing since to analyze people you need to listen to them even if you already have an idea about their personality"

"Elsa sure didn't seem too keen on listening when I went to her ice palace" Anna commented

"She was scared, Anna"

"I know. If there's one thing I've learned is that people make bad choices if they're mad or scared or stressed, but once you give them a little love, you get to bring out their best" as soon as she said that something in my mind clicked. _**People make bad choices when they're mad or scared or stressed**_ **.** _Maybe Hans did what he did because… what if… hmm…_ "Sky?" Anna called.

"Hu?" I said knocking myself out of my trance.

"You zoned out"

"Sorry, I just… what you just said got me to think" I said "Anyway, don't worry, I won't tell Elsa you told me and Hans won't know a thing"

"Thank you" Anna said.

"Little Sister Power, right?" I said holding my hand up for a high-five.

"Right" Anna said giving me a high five with a smile. "So, today's the Autumn Festival, have you ever been to it?" Anna asked me.

"No, I never got the pleasure. I've never been to Arendelle before and I've been too caught up with the 'Hans Situation' to go out"

"You must come then" Anna said excitedly.

"Well… I thought I'd stay here and go check on Hans, hopefully with Elsa's permission" I said.

"Come on! It's going to be so much fun! You can dance, sing, play games- oh! You've got to come see Arendelle's traditional dances! Plus, Elsa wanted to ask you to join us anyway, you can't refuse an invitation from the Queen of Arendelle" I rolled my eyes with a small smile.

"Alright" I agreed "But I'm not going to dance"

"Don't tell me you can't dance!" Anna said.

"No, I _don't_ dance, it's different. Plus, I'll come in my uniform, it's not like men usually invite soldiers to dance"

"But you're not a soldier, you're a queen"

"Anna, you surprise me, I thought you knew everything about the Revolution"

"I do!"

"Then you know why I always wear a uniform" Anna thought for a moment.

"No" she answered. I gave her a look and she seemed to get it "Oh, right! Landon, _first_ promoted you to General, and _then_ you became queen"

"Bingo" I said with a smile "I may be a queen but I'm still the General of Drakora's army" Anna smiled.

"Well, today I've also learnt something new, other than that I'm older than you"

"Which is?" I asked.

"Generals wear button-down shirts under the uniform jacket. I thought they'd wear plain shirts" I took a look down at myself and noticed that I wasn't wearing the jacket or the belt with the sword for that matter.

"You know, with the ceremonial uniform I'm actually supposed to wear a cravat as well" I said. Anna wrinkled her nose.

"Is it comfortable?" she asked not convinced.

"I don't know. The only time I put on the ceremonial uniform I didn't wear it" Anna laughed.

"And you didn't get in trouble for it? Rumor says you're very strict with your soldiers"

"Landon closed an eye for his fiancé" I said smiling. Anna laughed, but then my smile faded at the thought of Landon… _God, how I miss him… it's been a year, but… I miss him so much… Why him? It's not fair! He was just twenty!_

"Sky?" Anna asked placing her hand over mine "Are you okay?" she asked concerned. I nodded giving her a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm okay"

"ELSAAA! ELSA! I need to talk to you!" We heard someone yell from outside the room.

"Why is your boyfriend calling your sister like a madman?" I asked, torn in between amused and perplexed.

"I have no idea. This has been going on for a week. Kristoff comes back from the mountains and goes look for Elsa and it usually ends with her threatening to freeze him" Anna said "If I didn't know and trust them, I'd say they have an affair"

"I'd say so too" Anna looked at me narrowing her eyes.

"Elsa would never do that to me, and neither would Kristoff" I smiled at her.

"I know. I'm sorry, it came out wrong, there was no mean subtext, I assure you" I clarified "Don't worry, he probably wants to surprise you and needs her help"

"No, we don't have anything to celebrate, he probably needs her for the paperwork part of his job" she looked at me and I shrugged in response "Either way, I better go check. I don't want Elsa to freeze him like an icicle" I laughed

"No problem. I'll see you this evening" I said as she skipped out of my room.

"You bet. Later, Sky!" she said and got out of the door.

 **Elsa's POV:**

It was almost time for the festival. This has been the longest day ever because of my queen work and Kristoff... Kristoff… _argh!_ He was going to propose today and didn't leave me alone for a minute for a reason or another, mostly because of his nerves. Luckily for me, I finally earned myself a few hours of rest. I entered my room as slow as a sloth. There was just one thought on my mind: NAP TIME. As I got inside, I saw Anna sitting on her bed reading a book with her back against the headrest. As I walked towards her like a zombie, she looked up at me and saw my face… I don't know what it was like, but I know it must have been amusing to her.

"You look gorgeous" she said stifling a laugh.

"Thank you" I said tiredly, sitting on the edge of the bed next to her.

"Rough day?" As an answer I closed my eyes and gradually leaned down until I was laying down resting my head on her lap. Anna laughed softly.

"Exhausting" I answered placing a hand on her waist.

"I noticed" she said closing her book and running her fingers through my hair, making sure not to mess up my braid. "Ask me for help next time?" she suggested.

"Thank you" I said "Today has been awful…"

"You wanna take a nap?" Anna asked me as she stroked my head. I nodded in response, making myself comfortable using her lap as a pillow.

"Elsa!" I heard someone call from out of the room.

"Oh, no! Please…" I complained, covering my face with a hand. There was a knock on the door and then Kristoff entered the room without waiting for an answer.

"Oh, hi Anna!" he said as he saw her.

"Hi Kristoff" she greeted back.

"Well, since you're both here I'd like to talk to both of you, BUT about different things" he said "Anna, may I steal your sister for a minute?"

"I don't know if she agrees" she said. I didn't give any life signs.

"Elsa" he called. I didn't answer "Elsa?" Nothing "El-"

"WHAT KRISTOFF?! _WHAT_?!" I shouted exasperated, abruptly satting up straight like a crazy lady, which I was at the moment. Kristoff looked at me intimidated.

"Uhm… I need to talk to you for a moment?"

"Listen, Bjorman" I said standing up "I had to wake up 5a.m. to finish some boring paperwork, I've held two important meetings, you've been calling me non-stop since you opened your eyes this morning, I didn't have a proper lunch because Olaf and Sven almost burnt down the festival grounds, I didn't get my afternoon nap because of you and your ' _Elsa! Elsa! Elsa!'_ out of my door, I did _NOT_ finish my last paperwork stuff because you kept calling for me to come help you, now _**what**_ _ **do you want**_?" Kristoff remained silent at my outburst. I looked back at Anna who was covering her mouth with her hands to stop herself from laughing, as I sat back next to her. Everything was calm until Kristoff spoke up, or tried to because I didn't let him speak "Kristoff, I have the responsibility of running a kingdom and yet, today you haven't done anything but bothering your queen while she was working" I took a deep breath and sighed to steam off "Wow…I envy you so much Kristoff, your mind is so… placid, straight-forward, barely used… Jeez, it must be nice not being me, it must be _so_ relaxing…" I turned my attention back to a mute Ice Master "So Kristoff, after bothering your 24/7-on-duty queen for the whole day, what do you have to say to yourself?" I warned, but Kristoff either didn't get it or couldn't help himself.

"You really didn't have your lunch today, have you?" I looked back at him with pure disbelief.

"I'll have _you_ for lunch!" I said as I created a snow ball and threw it at him as Anna busted out laughing in the background.

"Well, no wonder why you're such an _unaffectionate frigid icicle_ most of the time!" he said avoiding the second snowball "Oh yes! I can see you've got _all_ the makings of a _great_ queen" and Kristoff and his sarcasm ran out of the room to avoid the third big snowball. As he got out I readjusted my dress and hair and looked at Anna who was still snickering at me. She was about to say something but I preceded her

"Don't say anything" I said "And don't laugh, you get it? I'm not in the mood" she raised her hands in surrender.

"You need to rest, you work too much" she said and patted the spot next to her on the bed "We have at least three more hours of wait for the festival to start, take a nap" I immediately got back to my earlier position, as Anna got her book back and I slowly drifted into sleep with my little sister running her finger through my hair.  
When Anna woke me up after my nap, we spent some time getting ready for the festival. Anna put on a blue dress similar to the one she had at my coronation (it was my dress, though), while I put on a dress similar to my favorite ice one, it was dark green with no slit on the knee and put my hair in a bun like the one Anna had at my coronation. Then, as Anna put her hair up in a bun, I took a look at her… I was not convinced. Whether she knew it or not, this was a special night for her. I walked behind her while she was seated at her vanity doing her hair and placed my hands on her shoulders to make her look up. As she did I looked at her inquisitively, then I had an idea.

"May I?" I asked motioning to her hair. Anna smiled.

"Yeah, sure" she said letting me do her bun, only that I had other plans, I undid her bun and let her long red hair fall down her back. Anna was about to complain but I shushed her "Let the master do her work" I said, she grunted but let me continue. I grabbed the comb from the vanity and gently combed her hair, when I was done I asked her to turn towards me, so that I could fix her bangs. Then I took a lock of her hair on one side of her head and braided it, then I made the same with a lock on the other side, then I brought them to the middle of the back of her head and tied the braids together in a crown like way. When I was done with fixing up her hair, to give it a final touch, I dusted her head with my powers and created a few small ice pins on her small braids and randomly on her loose hair. When I was done, Anna looked at herself in the mirror.

"There. That's much better" I said proudly.

"Wow, thank you, Elsa" she said admiring her hair style. "Soo…" she said standing up "How do I look?" she asked twirling once.

"You look beautiful" I told her as she smiled at me.

"Do you think Kristoff is going to like it?"

"He'll be head over heels for you, like he isn't already, anyway" Anna's eyes lit up as I said that, then she walked to me and gave me a hug which I gladly accepted.

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go!"

"Aren't you waiting for Kristoff?" I said hiding a smile.

"Oops, right" she said sheepishly, as if on cue someone knocked on the door. Anna looked at me grinning from ear to ear as her blue eyes lit up with excitement and she ran to the door as I followed her. As she opened the door I was surprised to see both Kristoff and Storm standing there. Kristoff had cleaned up well, though. It wasn't anything official, but as queen and princess of Arendelle it was our duty to show up at least once during these events; plus, Anna and I enjoy it. Usually I would have dreaded these events, but now that I've got my little sister back and I know how to control my powers, I can finally enjoy them. Anyway, Kristoff was wearing a blue shirt and dark blue leather vest, with matching pants and black boots, his blonde hair was swept to the side as usual, but you could see he tried to comb it. As soon as he saw Anna his jaw dropped, but he soon recovered. I felt some sort of pride in that moment. Anna smiled at him and walked to her soon-to-be-fiancé, which she didn't know yet, got to her tip of her toes and gave him a small kiss taking his arm.

"You look beautiful" he said smiling lovingly at her. Anna blushed and thanked him for the compliment. In that moment, I knew I did the right thing to give them my blessing. Maybe they were actually going to easily pull through these seven months of wait and get married so soon. They were in love, that's all that mattered.

"Elsa" called Storm knocking me out of my trance. He was looking handsome as well. He had changed out of his uniform. He was wearing a dark brown leather jacket that was open to his chest and a white shirt with the same neckline underneath. He had a black leather belt on his waist with his sword hanging from it, dark brown pants that matched his jacket and black boots. His jet black hair swept to the side. Storm flashed me a perfect smile as he saw me. "You look amazing, your Majesty" he complimented. I felt myself blush.

"Thank you" I said with a nod of the head "You don't look too bad yourself" he smiled charmingly.

"I hope you don't mind if I accompany you" he said "I wanted to formally ask you earlier, but Kai told me you were extremely busy" he added offering me his arm. I smiled and took it.

"Not at all" With that we walked down the hall exchanging a few words with one another. Anna sometimes would give me a wink or… _hints_. For example when Kristoff and Storm were too busy chatting together, she would mouth me something like _'rub his arm'_ and rub Kristoff's arm with her hand, earning a kiss on her head from him, or something like ' _hug his bicep_ ' and hug Kristoff's bicep scooting closer to him as he smiled at her covering her hand with his. My reaction was probably something like wide eyes and mouthing a big fat _'No!'_ or _'Forget it!'_. Anyway, as we got to the castle door, Skylynn was there waiting for us, still in her uniform. As soon as she saw us she flashed us a smile… Hans' smile. She greeted Anna, Kristoff and I with a friendly greeting, while with Storm, she gave him a glare with a cold nod of the head. Storm did tell me she was kind of angry at him, so that was expected. As she joined us we walked out of the castle and got to the royal carriage, while Skylynn walked to her horse, although Anna and I insisted for her to come with us in the carriage.

The moment we got out of the gates, we finally got a good look at the town. It was full of lights and people. Decorations with our new flag were everywhere. After the Thaw, Anna had an idea. She suggested we should change our flag that instead of the crocus, it should have a dark blue background and an ice-blue snowflake on it. I wasn't really convinced of the idea. I thought it was too… self-appreciating, but our ministers approved. Enthusiastically, may I add.  
All around town there were families walking around, kids playing with their parents on their tails, booths selling candy, flowers, game booths. We got to the main square were people were dancing, having the time of their lives. The air was filled with happiness and it felt impossible for anything to ruin this night. I looked over at Anna who's eyes were shining with excitement. Then I looked over at Kristoff who kept fiddling with the collar of his shirt as he looked at the town's clock. I could see why, it was almost time for the Traditional Dances. I looked over at Storm and noticed he was looking my way, but he didn't avert his gaze, instead he smiled at me. I smiled back.

As the carriage stopped, both Kristoff and Storm got out of it first and like two proper gentlemen, they both offered their hand to Anna and I helping us out of the carriage, while Skylynn got off Black Beauty and tied him to it. As the four of us got to the square, people who saw us immediately bowed in greeting as we made our way. I recognized some of the aristocrats who had come here. Some had left, others were willing to stay for the festival. Two of these royals were Princess Rapunzel and her husband Prince Eugene who seemed to be having the time of their lives as they were already dancing in the middle of the square. As soon as they saw us, they came towards us greeting us, as the other aristocrats. While Anna, Kristoff, Storm and I were busy with the nobles. Skylynn had been swarmed by her fans, mostly from middle and lower class. She just stood there smiling and replying politely. Probably to get out of the situation, she kindly invited everyone to go enjoy the dances. At the suggestion, Anna didn't resist and dragged Kristoff to the dance floor, the same went for Eugene as Rapunzel took him back among the dancing crowd. Skylynn, Storm and I laughed at the princesses' enthusiasm and at the two men. Kristoff wasn't a bad dancer, though. He started slow, but when he finally got the rhythm he was kind of good. Skylynn then excused herself and headed over to one of the drink booths. Around the square, there were many tables, where people would sit and have a drink before going dancing. There was one lager table, a little isolated from the others, which was the one destined to the queen and her followers. While Anna was having fun dancing with Kristoff, Rapunzel and Eugene, Storm led me to it, moved held my chair out for me to sit, like a gentleman, and told me he would go get us something to drink but assured me he would be back in a little bit.

 **Skylynn's POV:**

I had just excused myself and headed to one of the drink booths to get some grape juice. I wasn't really looking forward to the festival. I'd rather stay in my room instead of being here. Don't get me wrong. The festival was beautiful. All the lights, the people, the joy radiating through the kingdom was wonderful, I was just not really looking forward to party when my brother was wounded and in the dungeons. While I was sipping my drink, Storm came up next to me ordering two drinks.

"Has the assault to the beautiful queen already started?" I asked with a smirk.

"Which beautiful queen? I see two of them" was his nonchalant reply. I glared at him.

"If I were you I'd be _very_ careful. Not keeping your promises to a queen might have you… lose your head" And without waiting for an answer I walked away with my drink. As I tasted my grape juice, I walked around the square looking at the people, the booths, the kids. I also noticed the glances I got from some people as I walked. I admit I still wasn't used to it and, honestly, I didn't deserve all the glory. I was not alone in that rebellion. What about all those who died for their king? They are heroes. All those people who fought for their freedom are the real heroes.

Anyway, as I looked around I saw the last three people I wanted to see: Theodore and the two apes. I glared at them, but restrained myself from doing anything stupid. I noticed they were looking for someone and I was pretty sure it was either me or Elsa and Anna, and I was _NOT_ letting them near the two sisters, especially since Storm was under their command. I headed back towards where I left Anna and Elsa. I stood near a booth where I could clearly see both Anna and Kristoff dancing and Elsa sitting at a table with Storm talking. If Theodore and the other two were supposed to go near them, I could just walk to them and ruin their plans, whatever they had in mind. Luckily, they didn't. A few minutes later, the clock stroke 9:00 p.m. that meant it was time for Arendelle's Traditional Dances. I saw Elsa excuse herself and getting up from the table, followed by Anna and Kristoff, who had joined her and Storm. They walked to the front of the square, where the musicians were and the square fell silent. I walked up to the front row, so I could have a better view of them and so did Storm. I then noticed Anna signing me to come over. Trying not to attract too much attention, I walked over to them without complaining even if I didn't see the need for me to stand next to them. As soon as I was standing next to Anna, Elsa gave me a nod of the head, acknowledging my presence, then she turned back to her people and spoke up.

"People of Arendelle" she began "I'll start by saying that you have all done a wonderful job at setting up our festival, as this is by far one of the best Autumn Festivals that we've had and I honestly have nothing else to say, but to wish you a wonderful night and to have fun. And now" she paused "the Traditional Dances will begin as Princess Anna and our Ice Master Kristoff Bjorman will star us off" then she turned towards her sister and Anna ,taking Kristoff's hand, headed to the middle of the square, in silence, as the musicians waited for the queen's cue to start the music. Then Elsa spoke up again as Kristoff and Anna stood there waiting "Before they star us off, though…" she gave a side smile to Kristoff "Our Ice Master has something to say" I saw Kristoff pale as soon as she said that _Hm… this has just got interesting._ Kristoff fiddled with the collar of his shirt gulping. He shot Elsa a look and she answered with a warm smile. Anna seemed surprised at what was going on. Elsa took a few steps back and stood next to me.

"What's going on?" I asked. She smiled not taking her eyes off the couple in the middle of the square.

"Wait and see" she answered.

"Okay… uhm… thank you, Queen Elsa for letting me have a moment" Kristoff began clearing his throat "There is indeed something that I needed to say…" he paused and looked nervously at a confused Anna " I had thought about it, but right now… I forgot what I was willing to say, so I'll improvise" he took a deep breath "Throughout our lives, we learn lots of things. Some things are taught by our parents, others we figure out on our own. If there is one thing life has taught me, is that there's just one life to live and we can't waste it" Everyone looked slightly confused at his words, and so did Anna, while Elsa was looking expectantly. Kristoff continued his speech as Anna looked at him confused "There is a friend of mine that says… well… he says that with all the women in this world, how do you know that the one you chose is the right one? I mean- there could be one in… Bekintosh, that is the right one for you, but you'll never meet her because… you'll never go to Bekintosh. There's another good friend of mine that says that you can't know that that person you chose is the right one, if you haven't known her long enough" he paused as he and Anna both gave Elsa a look as she silently snickered to herself. Then Kristoff went back to speaking "But I'm lucky" he said taking Anna's hands, getting back her attention "Because I know I found _the one_ "

"Aww… how cute…" murmured some people in the crowd around them. Anna blushed at his words.

"I know this" Kristoff continued "Because I want to make you happy, because I want to surround you with beautiful things, I want to see you smile, I want to fall asleep every night with you kicking me" he said letting out a nervous chuckle "And I want to wake up every morning with your face next to mine… a-and I want to spend the rest of my life with you" At those words, Anna's face was unreadable, the was some awing in the crowd, and Elsa suddenly gripped my wrist tightly as her smile couldn't get any wider, I don't think she even noticed. By now, I knew what was going to happen next. Taking a deep breath, Kristoff put a hand in his pocket and took out a red velvet box and what he did next earned a gasp from both Anna and the crowd. "Anna, my love" he said and got down on his knee opening the box with a ring inside "Will you marry me?" he proposed. Tears of joy were forming in Anna's eyes as she nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes! Yes! Absolutely!" she answered smiling joyfully. There was a general cheer from the crowd, even Elsa was clapping her hands cheering at her sister. Kristoff then took the ring out of the box, which he put back in his pocket and slid the ring on Anna's left ring finger. Then as he got up, Anna jumped in his arms kissing him happily. Kristoff smile couldn't get any bigger and so couldn't Anna's. I smiled at the newly engaged couple, then I don't know what happened, but in the general cheering, one moment I'm standing smiling at the couple, the next Elsa is hugging me. Even though I was surprised at first, I returned the hug.

"My little sister is getting married!" she cheered happily hugging me tight. Then she noticed what she was doing and took a step away. "Sorry…" she apologized.

"Nah, it's alright" I said smiling. Then she looked at the musicians and signed them to start playing, they immediately obliged. As the music started, it took a moment for Anna and Kristoff to realize there was music. The couple looked at Elsa and I. I gave them a thumbs up as Elsa motioned them to start the dances, but unable to contain her smile. Anna took Kristoff's hand and they started dancing at rhythm of Arendelle's traditional folk dances. Unlike during royal balls, apparently folk dances consisted more in a sort of playful 'dance competition' between the man and the woman, there were many moves Anna and Kristoff did singularly, but also others where Kristoff would have Anna twirl. After the first few minutes, people started to join in. At first, they repeated the same pattern of movements, but the moment the music got even livelier, people formed two circles, an inner one with all the ladies and an outer one with all the men, clasping their arms on each other's shoulders. Then the men stepped forward and the women came to the front, passing under the men's arms before linking their hands together and moving clockwise while men were moving counterclockwise until they divided men on one side, women on the other then they mixed up again in alternation, man, woman, man, woman and so on, everyone finding their partner again. It was indeed very similar to Corona's dances, but that's no wonder. Arendelle and Corona do come indeed from the same ancient tribes of the North, but while the part of population that remained in the North became the people of Arendelle, the other that moved to the warm South became the people of Corona. Anyway, the dances were indeed beautiful, and looked very fun, but in the end, the 'new tradition' cut in, after a while, and the folks started dancing freely with not a thought on their minds but having fun. It happens all the time.

"Why don't you go for a dance, Skylynn?" Elsa asked me with a smile.

"I'm not that much of a dancer and I'm not really in the mood. But Arendelle's dances sure look fun" I answered with a smile, crossing my arms "What about you?"

"I don't really dance" she said looking at the people. As if on cue, Storm came to us.

"Elsa, Skylynn" he greeted bowing. Elsa and I gave him a nod of the head.

"Are you having fun, Storm?" Elsa asked… _oh? On first name basis I see…_

"I am. The festival is amazing" he said then smiled "And it would be even better if you accepted my invitation, since as your chaperon it's only appropriate that I invite you to your first dance of the night" he said offering her his hand. Elsa gave him a timid smile.

"Thank you, Storm. Only I don't dance" she said and in that moment both Storm and Elsa looked at me with a playful look.

"And neither do I" I said before either one of them could say anything

"Oh, that's a shame" Storm said. I knew he was about to add something, but thankfully for him, he caught the look I was giving him and restrained himself from doing so. In that moment Anna came to us with Kristoff trailing behind her holding her hand, with a smile that couldn't get any wider.

"Elsa!" she called and tackled her sister in a bear hug with enough force to have Elsa take a couple of steps back, as she repeatedly kissed her cheek loudly, as Elsa embraced her back, while Kristoff and Storm shared a manly handshake "So _this_ is why you and Kristoff were so suspicious these days!" Anna said keeping her arms locked around Elsa's neck. Elsa laughed.

"Surprise!" she said with a smile. Anna smiled back, kissed her cheek once more and hugged her again.

"That proposal could have melted the coldest of hearts, even mine" I told Kristoff with a side smile. He laughed at my comment.

"Thank you, Queen Skylynn" he said with a smile.

"Please, call me Sky" His grin got wider.

"Of course, Sky" he replied. I smiled satisfied and directed my attention to Anna.

"Congratulations!" I told Anna with a smile as she let go of her sister.

"Thank you!" Anna said turning to me. She raised her hands as if she was about to hug me, but then retreated them, looking unsure. I smiled and held out my arms for her. Anna smiled widely and flung her arms around my neck as I leaned down a bit so she didn't have to stand on her toes. What? Whether I like it or not, I'm a Westerguard and being tall runs in our genes, plus, the fact that, without heels, my mom is as tall as Elsa wearing her 2 inch heels, doesn't really help. Anyway, I saw Elsa shake her head with a smile as Anna hugged me tightly. We pulled away, the exact moment in which Kristoff opened his arms taking a step towards Elsa, who wasn't looking.

"Don't even think about it" Elsa said with a glare making him stop dead in his tracks. Storm, Anna and I chuckled.

"Oh, come on!" he pouted "Your little sister just got engaged! Allow your soon-to-be-brother-in-law a hug!"

"No" she answered hiding a smile

"But Skylynn allowed Anna to hug her!"

"I'm not Skylynn and you're not Anna" she answered

"Frigid party pooper…" he mumbled.

"Oooh… he dared" I mumbled as Anna stifled a laugh.

"Excuse me?" Elsa said calmly

"Nothing!" Kristoff replied with an innocent smile.

"I think you said something" she said taking a step forward.

"No, I didn't" he took a step back.

"Yes, it sounded something like _'frigid party pooper'_ , didn't it?"

"I would _never_ dare as much" he said, but Elsa kept stepping forward "A-Anna… sweetheart, darling, my lovely fiancée, help?"

"Sorry, you asked for it" Anna said with a smile.

"I was afraid of that" he said and looked at Elsa, his face morphed from uncomfortable to terrified "No… _no_ … Elsa, don't look at me that way…. HELP!" and he quickly took off hiding in the crowd. Elsa just smiled to herself and walked back to us, with a satisfied smile.

"No snow blasting, today?" Anna asked.

"Too many people" Elsa said nonchalantly. Anna looked at both me and Elsa, then to the dance floor, then grabbed my forearm and Elsa's hand excitedly.

"Let's go dance!" she suggested.

"Uhm… no thank you" Elsa and I said in unison, holding our ground.

"Come on! I just got engaged! Please, Elsa! Just a dance? For me?" Anna said giving Elsa the puppy-dog eyes. Elsa looked at me helpless. _Ooohh, guilty trick!_

"Come on, Anna" I said getting her attention "I'm sure Elsa will eventually dance with you. But Storm here was pretty much up for dancing not too long ago" I said giving him a look as Anna moved her attention to him.

"It would be an honor to have a dance with the Princess of Arendelle" Storm said with a small bow and a charming smile, holding out his hand for her.

"The pleasure is all mine" Anna said happily taking his hand and going for a dance, but as she was walking away she didn't restrain herself from looking back and mouth a _'stupid!'_ to her sister who just shrugged. I smiled shaking my head, clasping my hands behind my back.

"How did Theodore manage to survive with twelve brothers? That's too many brothers!" Elsa said holding a giggle.

"That is a lot of brothers, isn't it?" I said with a chuckle making her laugh slightly as well.

"Yeah, one sister is a lot of work. I can't even imagine twelve brothers"

"Go tell that to Hans, I'm sure he'd agree with you" I said.

"You were a handful of work like Anna?"

"I _am_ a handful of work like Anna… now"

" _Now_?" she said raising an eyebrow.

"I was much worse than Anna when I was a kid" I said holding back a smile "I was like Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. My mom is a teacher, so she knows how to handle kids, plus, she used to teach to 12 out of 13 of my half-brothers when she worked in the palace, before… Albert kicked us out. Anyway, my mom's parenting is like this: you ask her if you can do something, she tells you the consequences of that something and then it's up to you to decide. This is her way to teach you how to think. When it's about behavior, though, she's strict… _very_ strict… in another life she would have made the perfect admiral. I didn't train in the rebel army, I was home-trained"

"Oh my God! _That_ strict?" she said with a laugh.

"Only with etiquette, for the rest she's the sweetest and best mom ever" I said smiling "Anyway, basically when I was around my mom I was a sweet little angel, when I was out with Hans though…"

"… this _thing_ emerged"

"Exactly. This little devil came out. I was as hyper as Anna and what made it worse was my inability to listen-"

"-which you still have" I gave her a look and Elsa answered with an innocent smile.

"I was very short fused"

"You still are"

"I'm more in control, now. But basically, I was a little rebel"

"Well I'm surprised you say your mom is strict on etiquette, because your vocabulary during your little outburst with your brothers wasn't exactly of the greatest elegance" Elsa said.

"Blame Hans and the other twelve animals for that, they got me into swear words" she shook her head covering her mouth with a hand as she laughed. "Yeah, but… anyway basically I was pretty difficult to manage and Hans was the only one who was patient enough to bear me and my attitude as I grew up" Elsa raised an eyebrow "With thirteen older brothers and twelve of them being complete buttheads, you learn a thing or two"

"Even when in complete isolation… Anna and I were so close when we were little, but then an… _incident_ happened with my powers… to save her we had the trolls remove her memories of my powers and…" she looked away.

"…And you isolated yourself not to hurt her again" Elsa gave me a confirming look as if I didn't know already. Stories of the great Thaw had spread like the plague and now it was well known that the queen of Arendelle had isolated herself in order to protect her loved ones and her people from herself. There was one thing I didn't understand, though. "Why didn't you tell her right away? Why didn't you use your powers to learn how to control them?" I asked her.

"My father told me to hide them until I learned how to" Elsa replied.

"What?!" I said shocked.

"Yeah, that's what he told me… Conceal-"

"Don't feel. Don't let it show" we said in unison Elsa looked at me shocked.

"How did you know?"

"Through experience, learning it the hard way…" I said not looking at her, but stopped myself from telling her what I thought about her father's way to 'teach' her how to control her powers "I need to see Hans" I told her suddenly as a thought came to me. She sighed in exasperation.

"Skylynn, I told you, you can't. Why do you keep asking?"

"Please? I need to talk to him"

"Skylynn, I said no"

"Elsa, please?"

"You already put your neck on the line for him. I'm not allowing you to go down there so he can manipulate you some more!"

"Oh, for Christ's sake, Elsa! He asked you to kill him. To freeze him to death, doesn't that tell you something?"

"It tells me that I don't trust _him_ and I don't trust _you_ " she said, looking sharply at me.

"Why? Because you know I could manipulate Anna better than he did?" I said with bitter sarcasm. Elsa glared at me intensely.

"You just dare to try do something to her and-"

"And what? Get both me and Hans killed before we set one foot out of Arendelle? I may be a good fighter but I'm not invincible. Plus, most of your guards might suck at their job but I haven't brought an army with me"

" _Excuse me_? My guards are fine warriors" she said sounding offended by my statement.

"Really? Take a look at those two over there" I said pointing to the guards guarding our carriage "That buff one is about to fall asleep, while the other one is too busy checking out that girl at the table to do his job. The guards here behind us are pretty much checking _you_ out, or your backside to be more specific-"

"They're not!" she shouted in a whisper, smacking my arm, as her cheeks became bright red.

"They are"

"They're probably just wondering why I'm not wearing one of my usual ice-dresses"

"Like that's any less checking out the queen's royal behind" Elsa then turned to look at one of the guards and, as predicted, caught him staring.

"Pig…" she muttered under her breath.

"Oh, and let's not forget Hans' prison guards. One was definitely day dreaming, the other wasn't even holding his spear properly" I continued.

"Okay, you win. Can we just, you know, move back to the table over there?" she said glaring at the guards behind us. I stifled a laugh but followed.

"Anyway, please, may I see him?" I continued.

"No and that's final" I sighed. It was better not to push her, I was already on her Black List without having her telling me so. "By the way, if my guards are so awful at their job why don't _you_ train them, since you're oh-so-good at it?" she said with sarcasm.

"It would be my pleasure"

"Skylynn, I was being sarcastic" she said with a frown.

"But I wasn't, Elsa" her face changed to incredulousness

"You're not serious" she said, but realized I actually was "There's no way, I'm letting _you_ train my soldiers!"

"Oh, right! I keep forgetting. I'm on your Black List so everything I say and do probably is to snatch your throne. But that's too bad, it's a loss for you since I personally train my own soldiers" I said.

"And it's too bad I don't care and have my good reasons not to allow you to. I bet Anna would agree with me on this" as if on cue in that precise moment Anna came back with Kristoff on her tail

"Hey! There you are! I've been looking for you" Anna said smiling sitting at the table with us with their drinks in hand.

"Anna, what do you think about having Skylynn train our soldiers during her stay?" Elsa asked her to prove her point.

"What?" Anna asked in shock.

"She believes that our soldiers suck at their job and suggested to train them during her stay. Would you allow her to?"

"ABSOLUTELY YES!" Anna said happily

"Exactly- wait- what?!" Elsa said shocked.

"That's a great idea!" said Kristoff agreed.

"No, that's a terrible idea!" Elsa complained.

"Oh, come on, Elsa! What can she do? We're now allies with Drakora, after that little showdown at court she knows that if she tries something it's her funeral, she hasn't broken Hans out of jail yet, so why don't you give her a little trust?" Anna said

"Exactly" Kristoff said "Plus, she's right. Our soldiers are average and everyone knows that Drakora's army is definitely one of the strongest armies around, if not _the_ strongest"

"See? That's what I'm telling you" I said. Elsa glared at me.

"I don't trust you" she said.

"That is so clear to me"

"What can I say? You're Hans' sister, he tried to kill us and even though you know, you still plan on defending him. I think I've got my reasons not to trust you"

"I think it's just because you actually listen to my mind games and don't really know if I'm bluffing or not" I said lighty tapping my fingers on the table. Elsa eyed me.

"You enjoy messing with my head, don't you?" she said patiently.

"I just like mind games"

"You're just like your brother" she stated in a clear attempt of a jab.

"I know!" I said with a smirk "I told you I'm a lot like him"

"Yeah, too much for my likings" Elsa said with a smirk. Kristoff and Anna were just looking amusingly at our bickering, taking small sips of their drinks once in a while.

"Oh, well, that's too bad. You'll just have to deal with it until you set Hans free" I replied.

"And, unfortunately, that's going to take a while… a long while" Elsa said taking a sip of Anna's drink as I smirked cockily at her. I'm not going to add anything about the conversation, as during that small exchanged one thing was very clear. Elsa was not going to allow me to speak with my brother, but I needed to do that now, specifically, not with someone out of the cell door telling me that my time for the talk was up.  
 _People make bad choices when they're mad or scared or stressed._ This is what Anna told me the trolls told her. Hans was not a bad person, but I had to figure out why he would attempt regicide. My brother would have never done something like that if there wasn't a reason.  
I _had_ to speak with Hans, with or without Elsa's permission.

* * *

 **And there you have it! Next chapter should have some action! So? What did you think of it? Good? Bad? Boring? Interesting?  
Last chapter I asked a question no one answered, so I'll ask again: what do you think of the relationship between Elsa and Skylynn? How do you think things will develop? What do you think about Skylynn's relationship with Anna? Whose side is Skylynn on? How do you think her chat with Hans will go?  
**

 **I'll see you next Friday, with the next chapter! ;-)**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	9. Dungeon Emergency

**Skylynn's POV:**

The rest of the night went on pretty well –well- actually the next hour went on well, because I left soon after that. Anna and Kristoff are adorable, _Kristoff_ is adorable. He is really nice and you can see from the way he looks at Anna that he loves her very much. He's funny, charming in his own way, easy-going, we get along pretty well. And now it's official: I absolutely adore Anna. How can someone not like her? She's… a dork, but she's so sweet! She's funny, outgoing, friendly, smart, clumsy. She is just so fun to hang out with. As for Elsa…what to say about her?… It's impressive how fast our conversations can change from civil to cold war, to making fun of each other then back to cold war, then me challenging her, then cold war, then civil then cold war. Let's just say that she can be unpredictable sometimes, I don't know how things will turn out between us, we could be the best of friends or the biggest rivals the world has ever seen. Maybe I'm abusing of my hero/queen/ally status and the fact that Anna adores me, but I'm not going to lie: ticking off Elsa is kind of fun. She is a good sport, I give her that.

As I walked back into the castle, I made sure no one was around and headed towards the dungeons. I was going to see Hans, with or without Elsa's permission. I know I'm pushing it, but he's got to give me some answers. _Conceal. Don't feel. Don't let it show._ He taught me so and I saw why with my own eyes.  
I walked through the castle corridors and made my way down the dungeon stairs. As I got to the door, I saw the guards guarding Hans' cell in a _phenomenal_ deep slumber ruled by the sound of their snores. ' _Fine warriors'? 'Fine warriors' my foot, Queen Elsa…_  
I walked to them and took my sword out only to tickle one of the guards' nose, right on his mustache with the tip of my blade. The guard stirred in his sleep but didn't wake up, I tickled him some more and he finally woke up.

"What?" then he noticed the sword pointed on his face "WHAT THE HELL?!" and he jumped up waking up the other guard. I immediately blocked the hit from both first and second guard disarming them both and pointed my sword at them.

"Dead" I said as they finally recognized me.

"Queen Skylynn!" they exclaimed "What's the meaning of this?!" Guard 1 said shocked.

"A test" I said innocently, putting my sword back in its sheath "A test you two failed" I added severely "You gentlemen have an attempted murderer who almost took over your country in there and you sleep on the job? Is that considered 'guarding'? Not in my world" I scolded, as they picked up their spears, then I went with the magic words "Queen Elsa and Princess Anna wouldn't be too pleased to hear about this now, would they?"

"No! - No! Please, your Majesty! – Don't tell them! We're so sorry!" they said panicked "Please! We have families to take care of! - We can't lose our job!" they pleaded

"Okay, fine... I won't tell them" I said they were about to thank me but I cut them off " _IF_ you let me speak to the prisoner" I said.

"But, Queen Skylynn, Queen Elsa specifically told us not to let you-"

"-She also specifically told you to keep an eye on him by staying awake, didn't she?" I said glaring at them.

"Sorry, your Majesty, but we can't let you in" said Guard 2.

"Okay, fine" I said taking slow steps away from the cell "Good luck finding a new job" I added with a sweet smile.

"NO! Queen Skylynn wait!" they called. I stopped turning around slowly.

"Yes, sirs?"

"Fine, we'll let you in" they said with a resigned huff and opened the door for me. I smirked and walked back to the cell.

"Thank you, gentlemen" I said, took one of the lanterns hanging on the wall and got inside the cell closing the door behind me. As I got inside the room, I placed the lantern next to Hans's bunk. He was laying on his side with his eyes open, clearly not asleep.

"Sometimes I wish I never taught you not to give up" he said turning his head towards me.

"Most of the times, I'm thankful you did" I said crossing my arms.

"What is it now?" he said in an annoyed manner getting off the bunk and walking towards the window. As he did so, I noticed how he kept his back slightly bent forward and a faint pained expression on his face "If you're here because you think I didn't mean any of the things I said-"

"-yeah, yeah… you meant all of it" I said sarcastically "How long is this show going to last?"

"No show was ever done"

"Yeah, right… and I'm the Wicked Witch of the West" I answered. Hans softly chuckled but then coughed and cleared his throat "Are you okay?" I asked.

"I have probably caught a cold, not that I'm surprised after yours and the Snow Queen's last visit" he answered "What do you want?" he snapped again.

"An answer" I said "Why did you do this? What have Elsa and Anna ever done to you to deserve being almost killed?"

"They? Nothing. Anna was just my ticket to get into Arendelle's royal family and Elsa was in my way. As simple as that. Plus it would have been a benefit to everyone if she was dead, an ice witch less"

"Stop hiding. I've heard the story. I was in court. But I know you and you aren't capable of something like that, in fact, you failed. If you were capable of it, you would have succeeded" I paused "Hans, why won't you let me help you?"

"I don't want any help. There is nothing anyone can do to help! With what you did in court, you didn't help _me_ you helped Elsa keep her authority and power" he coughed again and that pained look came back.

"One solution to two problems"

"Go away, Skylynn. I don't need you" he said coldly. Those words stung at first, but I knew he said that to make me go away and leave him. _But why? This I don't understand!_ "I don't need your ' _love_ ' and I most certainly don't need _you._ You're just a waste of my time now. You want to know why I don't need you? Because my brothers are right: you are a disgrace to our family. You are worth nothing. Your fame is just thanks to Landon and Storm who always had your back and saved your ass in battle! Gordon, Herbert, Brad, August and the others treat you like trash because bastard children like you _are_ trash. God, Skylynn! Landon understood this immediately, he is cleverer than you and he's dead!" he said with poison. The last one was a low blow and it hurt, but I let him insult me, I didn't care, I knew he didn't mean it, but there was anger in those words, in his voice. He said it with fury and real poison like if he wanted to hurt me. Hans coughed again and got back to talking. "All those beatings were well deserved. What kind of warrior would have you been if you couldn't even defend yourself from them? They were preparing us. We Westerguards are warriors, we're Admirals, we fight back. I trained you to train myself, not to waste my time with you! What kind of man would I be, if I couldn't even defend myself?"

"Oh, please! You talk like you actually care about what they…" I trailed off as realization hit me. I connected the dots. _How could I have been so stupid?!_ _Of course! That's why Hans tried to take over Arendelle!_ Hans noticed my expression. He knew I had figured it out "You did this because of them" I said as the bitter realization dawned on me.

"Leave" he said as his cold voice slightly trembled "Now" he added.

"Why didn't you tell me right away? I could have done something!" I said.

"Go away, Skylynn" he said. Before I could say something I noticed how paled he looked. Color had drained from his face, sweat starting to form on his forehead.

"Hans-"

"-Get out, Skylynn, or I'll make you"

"You'd never hurt me"

"After all I said?" he paused and gulped hard as he stared at me coldly in the eyes "Try me" I did as he asked. I took my sword out and threw it on the ground in front of him. He looked at me shocked.

"Do it" I said challenging him. Hans blinked once, and shook his head. _Something was wrong._ Then he knelt down, trying to keep his back in its slightly bent position, took the sword and got back up staring at me. He wasn't going to hurt me, he was just going to try and scare me. In fact, he raised the sword holding back a yelp of pain as he did so.

"You asked for it" he said holding the sword with his hands slightly trembling. _Something was definitely wrong. He wouldn't let his hands tremble._ Then he made a quick jump forward and swung the sword a few inches from my face to scare me. I wouldn't have budged, if it wasn't for the fact that he had stumbled forward losing his balance and almost hit me in the face for real.

"Hans, are you alright?" I asked concerned and took a step forward only to be stopped by my sword pointed at my throat.

"Don't!" he shouted "Stay away from me or I swear I'm going to impale you with your own sword!" he threatened, but coughed immediately after that.

"Hans, calm down. It's alright" I said trying to sooth him. He walked backwards towards the cell corner behind him, lowering the sword as he pinched the bridge of his nose, passing his thumb and index on his eyes and blinking a couple of times. While he was distracted, I took a couple of steps towards him. "Hans, lower the sword and calm down. It's okay. I'm right here" _Wrong words. I'm an idiot._

"Exactly! Get out of here!" he yelled trying to point the sword at me, but pointed it at my left. Again, he slightly stumbled and did that pinching and blinking gesture again, as he lowered his head blinking again.

"Hans, put the sword down" I said tracing the sword's edge careful not to cut myself as I walked closer to him "Hans, it's okay. It's going to be fine, but you need to calm down" I had almost managed to touch the hand holding the sword, but when I touched him, Hans snapped. He snatched his hand away taking a step back and swung the sword on me, once, twice, three times. I managed to dodge the first two by moving back, but on the third I had to roll on the side. I knew he was doing this to scare me off but, in these conditions he could unintentionally kill me. _Memo for me: never give Hans a sword when he's angry and sick. Now I'm in trouble._ As I dodged the last one, he stumbled forward, but as he stroke again, I rolled forward to dodge, but this time, Hans didn't just stumble. The sword fell from his hand and he collapsed on the floor.

"Hans!" I called getting quickly to his side turning him around. His face was white, his forehead covered in sweat, his breathing hoarse. He needed help immediately. I got my sword and put it back in its sheath, I didn't need a third degree. "GUARDS!" I called getting back to my brother's side. The cell door immediately opened and the two big armed men came in.

"Your Majesty! Are you alright? Did he attack you?" Guard 1 asked concerned as he saw the scene in front of him.

"No, he is sick!" I said "You" I said pointing to Guard 1 "Go fetch the doctor and if you meet a servant on your way, tell him to go get Queen Elsa or do it yourself! GO! MOVE!" I ordered, the first guard immediately obliged and ran out of the cell. "You" I said pointing at Guard 2 "Help me put him on the bunk" I said. The man walked to me and as I got Hans' upper side, he got his legs and together we lifted him up and put him on the bunk.

"Help me take his shirt off. I need to check his wounds" I said. The guard seemed reluctant "Now!" I said sternly and he obeyed. As we took his shirt off I took a look at the bandages. They were old. No one had come to change them. I took out the dagger I wore on the left side of my belt and carefully cut open the bandages removing them. Then I turned him around with his back facing up. Most of the wounds were infected.

"Oh my…" the guard mumbled clearly not expecting such a sight: gruesome, that's the word. They were much worse than the last time.

"What's going on?" the doctor asked as soon as he got into the cell, then he saw me and gave me a quick bow. "Your Majesty! What happened?" he asked.

"We were talking, then he paled and collapsed" I explained cutting out the dangerous part. The doctor took a look at Hans.

"Did you remove the bandages?" he asked.

"Yes, there they are" I said pointing at the old dirty rags. The doctor looked at them "They haven't been changed, of course the wounds would get infected, they were already half way when I gave him his first medication" he said taking a cloth and a bottle with some transparent liquid in it. Then he poured some of the liquid on the cloth and carefully disinfected the wounds.

"Is there something I can do? I think he's sick" I said worriedly. He put a hand on Hans' forehead.

"Yes, he's got a high fever. This is not good. Not good at all" the doctor said "Judging from the bandages and the severity of the infection, I suppose the bandages haven't been changed since I gave him his first medication, which means his wounds weren't treated… which means he could die"

"Then why didn't you treat his wounds?!" I thundered.

"Because I didn't put _him_ in charge of it" said another voice, I turned around and saw Elsa regally walking inside the cell, looking at me with a glare. The doctor gave her a bow of the head "What are _you_ doing here? I believe I had made myself pretty clear when I told you not to"

"Well, it's a good thing I did. My brother is dying!" I said angrily.

"We're having a talk later" Elsa said and turned to the doctor "What happened?" she asked.

"The bandages haven't been changed since the last time I came here. No one has treated his wounds and now they are severely infected, as you can see, and he's got a high fever" the man put away the cloth as he finished cleaning all his wounds "Queen Elsa, he could die and considering his whole state, the chances are quiet high" Now, I was worried out of my mind. Elsa seemed to be quiet shocked at the news too. I was about to speak up when she raised a hand to silence me.

"Doctor, finish treating his wounds and change his bandages" she ordered. The doctor gave her a quick bow and went back to work on Hans' back. "You two" she said pointing to the guards "once the doctor is done, take the prisoner to his old guest room and guard it. No one can get in or out unless I allow it"

"Yes, your Majesty" they said.

"Queen Skylynn" she said turning to me "follow me" I nodded as she gave me a stern look. I took one last look at Hans and then followed the queen out of the cell and back upstairs in the castle hallways. There was silence as my mind was focused on my injured sick brother, also waiting for Elsa's rant which was not coming. Then I exploded.

"Look, Elsa if you are going to lecture me, you'll have wait for that since I've got my mind on my brother's health and I'm not really going to listen to you anyway. Plus, I already know the drill so don't bother" I told her.

"No, I _will_ bother, I _will_ lecture you and you _are_ going to listen to me, Skylynn Westerguard" she said with a stern look.

"Actually it's _Engel_ Westerguard" I corrected.

"Whatever. I don't care" she said "For two minutes, zip it" she said. I crossed my arms, waiting for the lecture. _Is she really expecting me to listen? I have other stuff in my head right now, like how I'm going to skin my half-brothers one by one, or, more importantly, my brother's health._

"You came here willing to save Hans' life knowing what he tried to do and to me that's not a good start. Then you burst into a room humiliating a king and two princes right under my nose, then you keep asking me to visit Hans and even though my answer is 'no', you go there anyway, you have done nothing more than trying my patience. I thought I had made it pretty clear that you were supposed to be on your best behavior, but since I can't kick you out anymore, I should have you locked up in your quarters"

"I had to see him. It was urgent and it's a good thing I did! I needed answers and I got them before he collapsed"

"I don't care what kind of family business you had to talk to him about, but if I forbid you to see him, you don't go see him"

"Even when it's about the mess he did here in Arendelle?" I challenged.

"In that case, he has to answer to me, not you and it's not him we're talking about, we're talking about you" Elsa seriously replied "You are in my home, under my rules, I warned you once, but you keep doing whatever you want and that's not okay with me. You're already on my Black List and you seem to actually try to make it worse!" she paused taking a deep breath "But… if you hadn't disobeyed me, by the time I would have allowed you to see Hans, he would have probably been dead and a war with Drakora is the last thing I want for my kingdom. So…" she continued "I suppose I also owe you a thank you for letting me know"

"You're letting me off the hook? Just like that?" I asked surprised.

"I still don't know what kind of 'game' you're playing at now, but yes. I'm sort of letting you off the hook. But Skylynn, please let it be the last time I tell you: stop defying my orders" she said in an exasperated plead "I know you care about him, but you have to stop doing whatever floats in your boat, especially since everything that happens here is under my responsibility. If we were in Drakora and you'd be in my position, you'd ask me the same thing" I couldn't help contain a small side smile.

"You're right, I would" I said "I apologize, your Majesty. I'll _try_ to be on my best behavior"

"Thank you" there was a small silence.

"Elsa" I spoke up "Who was supposed to treat Hans' wounds didn't do his job. Who is it?" I asked trying to contain the anger that was boiling up in me.

"I don't know, I'll have to ask Kai. But Skylynn, please, leave that to me" she said "And I'm sorry if your brother could be dying because of one of my servants" I gave her a nod of the head and walked past her, when she stopped me with a hand "For your next visit to him, wait for me" she said looking at me in the eyes. I took a deep breath, restraining myself from rolling my eyes.

"Of course" I said.

"And another thing. How did you get past my guards?" she asked slightly narrowing her eyes.

"I bribed them" I answered truthfully. Elsa's eyes went out of their sockets.

"You actually corrupted them?!" she said glaring.

"No, I suggested a fair trade. In exchange of letting me through, I wouldn't have told that you I caught them sleeping on the job. Oops!" I said dramatically covering my mouth with a hand.

"Oh…" she said, understanding I was telling the truth "Well, that means that _you_ will be held in check and those two dullards will not only have their usual shifts, but will also have to muck out horse poop for a month… _three_ months, in the Royal Stables" I couldn't help but let out a small side smile.

"Still thinking your guards are 'fine warriors'?" I challenged with a smirk. Elsa glared at me.

"Go to your quarters, Queen Skylynn" she said glaring at me.

"Of course, your Majesty" I said with an overdramatic bow and walked away. While I got back to my room, my mind was on Hans, hoping and praying he would make it through.

* * *

 **Elsa's POV:**

The morning after, as I was done with breakfast, while Anna went to town with Olaf and Kristoff, I went looking for Kai. I had finally found him as he exit the royal kitchen.

"Kai" I called. He turned around and bowed.

"Queen Elsa" he greeted "What can I do for you?"

"Who did you put in charge of treating Hans' wounds?" I asked

"Four servants and three maids, so they could pick turns. Why? Is something wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"They didn't do their job and now the prisoner could die" I said. Kai paled.

"Oh my goodness! Your Majesty- I had no idea! I don't-"

"Kai, it's okay. It's not you I'm mad at. Who are these people? I need to have a little chat with them" I asked.

"Follow me" he said showing me the way. We walked through the corridors in silence then, as we stopped by a door, Kai told me the names of the servants and maids he put in charge and opened a door to a room where most of the servants off duty were, some sewing, others resting, others chatting. As soon as they saw me everyone jumped to their feet, the men bowed and the women made a curtsy, acknowledging my presence.

"I need to ask the following people to follow me for a talk: Joseph, Carl, Gary, Ronald, Mary, Helen and Tina" I said examining each of their faces. The seven I called paled, but followed me out of the door giving each other nervous glances "Thank you, Kai. You can go back to your duties" I said he bowed and gave the seven an apologetic look, then he walked away. I turned back to them "Who gave you the authority to decide the prisoner's fate?" I said sternly "I had you to be ordered to treat his wounds, yet, his life is at stake now because you disobeyed me" I scolded. They all looked to the ground. "If I say 'treat his wounds', you treat his wounds, no questions asked. I don't care if he's a traitor and tried to commit regicide. He had his trial and he will face his punishment; you are in no position to decide his fate. I really hope the seven of you have a good explanation for defying my orders" I said sternly. Then one of the three girls spoke up.

"You're Majesty, we tried to treat his wounds but… he wouldn't cooperate" she said.

"Get into details" I said glaring at them.

"He wouldn't let us near him" said one of the boys. Then he rolled up one of his sleeves revealing healing bruises shaped as fingertips "I got this trying to get near him, but he grabbed my wrist, threatened me and pushed me away"

"I tried to treat him as well, but he just snapped and wouldn't let me near him. He charged on me, I was lucky to be fast enough to get out of the door" said another of the girls.

"Your Majesty" said another boy showing me his cheek "I got this bruise because I was stupid enough to grab his arm. He punched me square in the face and would have continued if I hadn't run out of the door"

"He kept saying he didn't need your help or your pity and that he would rather die" said another boy

"Your Majesty, honestly, I didn't even go in there because after seeing them coming back from the cell I was scared of him" said the third girl.

"Yeah, me too. That guy is a beast!" said the last servant. That got me to think. I was actually surprised to hear this. That didn't seem like the Hans I had met last month, this was someone else and it looks like he meant it when he asked me to kill him. He wants to die. But why? I thought- he _seemed_ to be going to fight back, but now I realize, he really doesn't want to be saved and it made me realize something else too. He did care for Skylynn. If he didn't, he would have let them treat him and as soon as he had recovered, he would have tried something without caring about the consequences. If he didn't care about her he would have gotten both him and her killed without a second thought; this is the only way to leave his sister out of the mess he made… or maybe I'm just overthinking?  
I turned back to the servants.

"Even if what you say it's true, you should have informed me, not taken on the liberty of keeping your mouths shut until the prisoner died" I scolded.

"We're sorry, your Majesty" said one of the boys "Please, forgive us"

"Why didn't you inform me?" I said

"I-.. we…" stuttered one. They all looked at each other nervously. One was chewing on his nails, another had his knees trembling, the one beside him seemed about to pass out and they all had a blank and scared look in their eyes. Then one of the girls timidly spoke up.

"Please forgive us, your Majesty. None of us wanted to disobey your orders, we thought the prisoner would eventually calm down and then we would have treated him, but as the days passed, he became even more aggressive, instead" she said

"Please forgive us, Queen Elsa. We're sorry, we made a mistake" a boy said as they all kept their head down.

"Alright, listen to me carefully. This is my decision" I said "From now on, remember that you will personally answer to whatever happens to the prisoner's health. Food, medications, hygiene, everything will be under your responsibility until he is recovered. Any kind of lack of attention on your behalf will be punished with a stay in the dungeons"

"Thank you, your Majesty. Thank you for your trust" they said bowing.

"Now, get back to work" they bowed and quickly walked away to their duties. As the servants walked away, I went back to my study to take care of my queenly duties.  
It was boring, really. Singing all these papers, look at economy statistics… I _hate_ numbers, it just gets confusing after a while, I'm much more of a literature person. As I read the statistics, I couldn't help but notice something. What was on the papers, sure didn't reflect much of what happened in town. This was the first time I had to check those kind documents, but in town it surely didn't look like our economy was slowly going down. I got up to one of the shelves and took out the old statistics and compared them. There was something fishy going on. I then went towards another of my shelves and took out one of the folders that had ' _Politics and Government: King Adgar VI – Queen Idun II'_ written on. It had all the documents of my parent's reign in it. I didn't even check the papers regarding my mother's duties, since she took care of international politics such as trading and alliances, it was my father's politics I needed to give a look at. There I found the answer. I knew mom had always been a much more of a democratic ruler, in fact, she was the one who convinced dad to introduce a parliament. Unfortunately, that's the only thing dad allowed her to decide regarding internal politics. Parliament was there just to help out the monarch taking care of the law, economy and everything else, the only power above parliament is the ruler's. As I kept reading the documents, I got even more scandalized by the pay check these people got, where they had put taxes and how they decided to put them, for example: the same amount of taxes on the house for everyone. Now, I mean- for Christ's sake!- the people who have a job that doesn't pay much and a family to take care of, how are they supposed to pay that _and_ the other taxes? As I kept reading I saw even more scandalous things regarding our parliamentarians, apart from the fact that there aren't ANY representatives of middle-class and the commoners, like the amount of privileges these people got. Privileges for _what_? As I finished reading all that, I finally got why the economy statistics of the past few years were getting worse. My father spent most of the State finances to pay his parliamentarians and putting taxes where there weren't supposed to and in the wrong distribution! Of course our economy is slowly going down! No wonder why some people were giving me the evil eye the other day. After putting away the old documents and putting in my drawer the useful ones, I got back to reading the new ones and one caught my eye. As I read it I felt truly astonished by the absurdity of the letter.

 _Who the heck did my ministers take me for?! Santa Clause?_ was my thought. I immediately folded it and put it in one of my drawers. Then there was a knock on my door.

"Come in" I said.

"Pardon me for disturbing you, your Majesty" a friendly male voice said.

"Oh, Kai don't worry about it. Actually, I was about to come look for you" I said smiling at the butler.

"I'm all ears, Queen Elsa" he said with a warm smile.

"I need you to go inform my ministers of an upcoming meeting Friday at 5p.m. sharp"

"Of course. What for, your Majesty?"

"Just tell them I have a few things to communicate them" I said holding back a smirk, and to be clear, the only reason why I was smirking was to prevent myself from crying.

"As you wish, I'll be right on it" Kai said with a bow of the head.

"Perfect. Now, what did _you_ need me for?" I said smiling.

"General Ryder asked for your presence, but said that if you were busy he would meet whenever it pleased you" he said holding a smile. I couldn't help but hold back a sincere half smile "I suppose you agree with me when I say he's a perfect gentleman"

"He is" I said smiling at myself, thinking of how much of a gentleman he had been for the whole time yesterday.

"And a handsome fellow" Kai added with a smirk.

"I suppose he is…"

"And a charming young man"

"Kai, are you by any chance suggesting something?" I said raising an eyebrow.

"Just stating facts, your Majesty" he said with a fatherly smile "Plus… who knows?" I blushed there.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about" he smiled again.

"So what shall I tell him?" Kai asked

"Tell him I'll meet him this evening in the east wing living room before dinner" I said.

"As you wish, your Majesty" he said and left with a bow. As he got out of the door, I checked a few more documents, signed them and finally got out of the study. I walked through the castle hallways going directly to Hans' room. As I walked through the hallway before taking a turn towards the hallway where Hans' room was located, I saw Anna, wearing her favorite green dress with flats and her hair in her signature braids, leaning on the corner waiting. I walked towards her and when she saw me she came towards me.

"Elsa, what's going on? I passed by this hallway this morning and noticed two guards and Skylynn outside Hans's old guest room, and when I returned, like three hours later, Skylynn was still there. Did something happen?" Anna asked me worriedly.

"Skylynn went to see Hans without my permission yesterday" I said.

"And…?" she asked knowing there was more.

"It's a good thing she did, because Hans is sick and the doctor said he might not make it through. His wounds got badly infected"

"Oh… -Wait!-Didn't you have Kai put someone in charge of it?" Anna asked.

"Apparently, Hans has succeeded in scaring them off. It seems like he doesn't want help… like if he wants to die" Anna nodded understanding

"Skylynn is probably worried out of her mind. She is still out of the door, let her see him, let them talk" she said.

"I will, sooner or later"

"Elsa" Anna said soothingly "I understand that you don't trust her and I know it seems like I haven't learned anything from what happened a month ago, but believe me when I say that sometimes I wish I didn't trust her as much as I do, it's just that-"

"-When it comes to older siblings you feel like you two have a connection" I finished and took her hands in mine "I know…"

"Yeah… you know that if something happened to you I would want to be by your side, so why won't you let her? She may seem like she's made of steel, but she's human too. She's been fighting with claws and teeth to somehow save him, doesn't that make you think?"

"Yes, too much. I don't trust her, Anna, like… at all. She's smart, she's a warrior, she's a stranger, she's… she's _dangerous_ , Anna. _Hans_ is dangerous. I really hope you have realized by now, why I don't want them to communicate as much"

"I do and you're absolutely right. But have you also considered that maybe theirs are masks? Why don't you try to dig a little deeper before labeling her as 'enemy'? I'm trying to do that myself. I'm being cautious too" Anna said. I raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Because going all fan-girl mode and trying to persuade me in giving her more trust doesn't really go with the definition of 'cautious'" I said. Anna smiled got on her tiptoes, since I was wearing heels and she wasn't for once, and kissed my cheek taking a few steps away.

"Closing doors isn't always the answer" she said and walked away. I stood there for a moment thinking about it. Then I turned the corner and in fact, Skylynn was there sitting on one of the small couches in the corridor, waiting outside of Hans' door a few feet away from it, she had something that looked like a notebook in her hands, and she was writing something on it. I walked towards her but didn't say anything, she must have heard me though, because her head snapped towards me, her bright grey eyes meeting mine for a split of a second, then she gave me a nod and got back to writing.

"How long have you been here?" I asked standing next to her with my hands clasped in front of me.

"5 a.m." she answered in a low voice "I couldn't sleep" there was a moment of silence

"What are you doing?" I asked pointing at the notebook.

"Writing a letter to my sister-in-law" she said "Don't worry, I'm not asking her to send an army and declare war to Arendelle, I'm informing her of what's going on and that her regency could last longer than expected" she paused with a glare "Or do you want to play nosy and read it to make sure it's actually what I told you?" she said coldly.

"No, I believe you" I said calmly.

"That's a first" she said somehow satisfied with my answer "The doctor just got inside" she said not taking her eyes off the notebook.

"Did his actions have anything to do with your brothers?" I asked, maybe this wasn't the best moment, but we were supposed to talk about it sooner or later.

" _Half-brothers_ " she corrected with a glare "And I thought you didn't care about our family business"

"You said it was about what happened here in Arendelle and that concerns me" I insisted.

"Well, to think about it, Arendelle doesn't really have anything to do with this, so… no, it doesn't concern you" she said not looking at me, but clearly irritated.

"Skylynn-"

"-Listen up, _Snow Queen_ " I tried not to flinch at the epithet as she stood up staring down at me, her grey eyes cold. The guards at the door were already about to leave their position and come to me, but I raised a hand signing them to stay in position "This is none of your business and I'm not in the mood to argue, so if you don't want me to do anything stupid don't push it" Skylynn said menacingly.

"Is this a threat, _Heroine_ of Drakora?" I said not backing down, although she was indeed intimidating.

"A war declaration if necessary" she said taking a step closer, as she stood at her full height. I swallowed the lump in my throat, but didn't avert my gaze.

"I suggest you to think before speaking to me like that. Don't make me remind you that _I_ am the queen here and that I could freeze you in this very moment if I wanted to" I said. Skylynn took a deep breath and stepped back sitting back down.

"Let's make it clear: you can threaten me all you want but I'm not afraid you. I'm not in the mood to fight with you, right now" she said. As she said that, I admit that that answer caught me off guard. I knew Anna and Kristoff weren't afraid of me either, they didn't need to say it, but hearing Skylynn say it directly in my face, it felt… good. Even when Storm indirectly said so himself it was a nice feeling, but hearing a stranger saying it directly was better.

"I'll go hear what the doctor has to say and let you know" I said. She nodded and got back to the letter. I took a step forward a placed a hand on her shoulder "If he's awake, would you like me to tell him something?" I asked.

"I'm not going anywhere. Please tell Hans that" she said looking up at me. I nodded and walked towards the guards.

"Is everything okay, your Majesty?" one of them asked eyeing Skylynn.

"Everything is fine" I answered "Let me through, please" they nodded and stepped aside letting me inside the room. As Skylynn said, the doctor was inside checking on Hans. As I closed the door, he turned his head towards me and bowed. I nodded back.

"How is he?" I asked.

"Not good" the doctor answered "The infection is bad and probably deadly, the fever isn't helping either"

"Is there something you can do?" I asked

"I already changed the bandages and gave him some antibiotics, but there isn't much else I can do for him. We just have to wait and see"

"Thank you, doctor" I said. He bowed and left the room leaving me with a sleeping Hans. Even if he was asleep, he didn't look peaceful at all, he was in pain. I walked closer to him and put a hand on his forehead. He was burning up. What I did next came out natural, as I felt his burning forehead, I used my powers to try to cool him down, moving my hand from his forehead to his cheek. As I did, he started to steer in his sleep leaning into my touch. Surprised, I was about to pull my hand away, when he grabbed my wrist with his warm one, keeping it in place. My heart immediately started beating out from my chest. I couldn't let him touch my hand, not when it was so close to his face, especially since I saw frost immediately crawl over my fingers. _Calm down, Elsa! Calm down! Don't freak out! Don't freeze him._

"Sky… stay…" he weakly muttered stirring, with his eyes barely opened. Now that caught me off guard.

"No, Hans. It's Queen Elsa" I said.

"I was… stupid… Sky" he muttered

"Hans, it's Elsa" I said gently "Skylynn is outside"

"Arendelle… I didn't… Elsa… Anna…" he muttered, that got my attention and I sat down on the edge of the bed, next to him, my concern for the unexpected contact with my hands gone. "My brothers… don't… it's my fault" he kept muttering. He was delirious, probably because of the high fever. "Gordon… August… Brad… William… Herbert… they…" he coughed "…I didn't… Elsa… she hates me..." he coughed again tightening his grip on my hand "they are right… I… _thirteenth_ wheel… spare of spare… worthless…" his hoarse voice was rising and I immediately hushed him, running my cool hand through his hair, that seemed to calm him down a bit "They… preparing me… I failed… I'm… nothing…" those words didn't make sense but something in my mind clicked. What happened here in Arendelle had something to do with his brothers and Skylynn had figured it out. I kept thinking about all those words until a thought came into my mind. _I think I figured it out…_ I had to talk to Skylynn about this.

"Shh… get some sleep, you need to rest" I said running my fingers through his auburn locks

"Sky… I didn't mean…" he continued weakly as his barely open eyes closed again and the grip on my hand loosen, but the moment I tried to pull my hand away, he clumsily caught it again in his.

"She knows… she's not going anywhere" I said, but he was already asleep. For a moment, I stood there thinking about what he had just said in his delirious state. I needed to talk to Skylynn, immediately. But before leaving, I pulled away my hand from his and using my magic I created a thin layer of snow on his forehead to cool him down a bit. Hans seemed to relax as he felt the cool frost. I stood there for a moment, noticing how he seemed to be less in pain… and didn't realize that the moment I was done with the frost, I had placed my hand on his cheek again and was rubbing it with my thumb. I gently pulled my hand away and stood up walking out of the room. To my surprise, Skylynn wasn't there, she must have gone to get herself something to eat or drink. I took a few steps away from the door, until I passed next to the window closest to Hans's room and saw something. This part of the castle faced the royal gardens, which were a quiet isolated place. There stood Prince Herbert and Prince Gordon speaking to each other. They were down there, and Skylynn wasn't here anymore…

"Oh no" I muttered and rushed away calling the guards, making my way towards the royal gardens hoping to catch up with the furious Queen of Drakora.

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 **Oh-Oh... Sky figured out why Hans tried to take over Arendelle and she's _NOT_ happy! What do you guys think it's going to happen next? Will Elsa catch up with her in time? What do you think of Anna's tecnique to get to know Skylynn? Any thoughts on Hans? Let me know what you think about this chapter with your awesome REVIEWS!  
**

 **See you next chapter! ;-)**

 **The Princess of Stars**

 **P.S.**

 **A/N: Since I realized the chapters are quite long, in case you forgot, Sky figures out Hans did the Arendelle thing because of his brothers, because he repeats the same stuff they tell him in the first chapter when they beat him up, meaning that they said to her as well, so she knows where those words actually come from.**

 **Just in case.**


	10. Fight

**Skylynn's POV:**

I wasn't planning on it...-well, maybe part of me was- but it had been completely un intentional. I was re-reading the letter I was going to send my sister-in-law and decided to stand up to stretch my legs. The only thing I did was walk to the closest window while re-reading the letter, I folded it put in an envelope and then I glanced out of the window and saw my half-brothers. When I saw Herbert and Gordon in the royal gardens calmly chit-chatting, the only feeling I had at the moment was fury for what they did to my brother. The only reason why Hans is sick and injured is because of them. They did that to him. So I did the first thing my guts told me, put the letter in my pocket and quickly stalked to the royal gardens. Luckily the two _things_ were still there joking around when I finally got there. Oh, how lucky were all the others not to have come… So here's the plan, first I beat the crap out of these two, then I'll send another letter to Angel telling her to prepare the warriors for a war with the Southern Isles and I finally skin alive those other vile excuses of princes. I didn't bother with stealth, I just paced directly towards them fuming when they finally saw me… luckily for them, the walk got me to cool off enough not to take my sword out and kill them right away.

"Oh, Gordon look! If it isn't our little half-sister descending from _'high and mighty'_ to pay us a visit" Herbert said with a smug look.

"YOU! IT'S YOUR FAULT HANS IS IN THESE CONDITIONS! HE'S DYING BECAUSE OF YOU!" I yelled stepping closer to them.

"Oh boo-hoo! Then I shall inform you that we _don't actually give half-a-crap_!" Gordon said glaring. I angrily pushed him.

"IT WAS YOU! IT WAS _ALL_ YOU! HANS WENT ON THIS SUICIDE MISSION BECAUSE OF YOU!" I yelled, trying hard not to put a hand on my sword and lower myself to their level. If I had to kill them, it will be out of self- defense.

"And remind me why we should be worried right now?" Herbert said

"Because you may fool Theodore and the others but you can't fool me. I know why Hans tried to kill Queen Elsa and Princess Anna"

"Oh? And why is that our fault?"

"Stop playing stupid, you oafs! I know you are, but that's not the topic" they glared at me "You made him feel like such a worthless piece of nothing, that he wanted to prove himself to you! He tried to take over Arendelle to show the twelve of you he was worth something! You knew very well that it was a suicide mission, that's why you let him go! You were hoping Queen Elsa would execute him, if not getting himself killed in the process of taking over this kingdom!"

"Ooh… busted!" Gordon said chuckling, sharing a look with Herbert.

"So, what?" Herbert said "It's not like it changes anything he did"

"It _does_ change things, you moron!" I snapped as he tensed in anger "He is not the evil man everyone thinks he is! You are the ones who froze his heart! You made him believe that he needed to prove himself to you by accomplishing something impossible" I yelled "What have we ever done to you?! Why do you hate us so much?!"

" _You_ are nothing but a waste of space and air of a bastard who is not worthy of royalty. _He_ is the thirteenth wheel. He is the spare of the spare of the spare. Useless. But still, he is the reason why our father decided we were hopeless cases!" Gordon said angrily.

"Yeah, right! Like Albert payed any attention to any of us, especially Hans and I" I snapped sarcastically, sadly admitting there was indeed one thing I had in common with them: a careless father.

"You weren't at the palace, you arrogant brat! You don't know how things were there!" Gordon snapped.

"To us he was always _'Hans here! Hans there!- You bunch of ignorants should be like your little brother!'_. Literature and philosophy won't get him anywhere! It's because of him that it will always be _'_ _ **this**_ _is Prince Hans and they are Prince Herbert, Prince Gordon etc.'_ No youngest prince of the Southern Isles has ever been more important than the others because he could do some useless re-tell of Kant's philosphy and write some music! I'm the third in line and Father made _Hans_ Admiral and _me_ his _vice-admiral_!" Herbert said with as much anger

"So this is why you treat him like trash? Why you beat him up and filled his head with the idea of how worthless and what a failure he is and how he will never be a man if he can't defend himself when you are 6 on 1? Because of _tradition_?!" I shouted astonished by their explanation. They were despicable.

"In summary? Yes" Herbert said a smug look. "Now, we're the ones with a question. Why do you even fight so much for such a lost cause? Him trying to kill the Queen of Arendelle while she had her _back_ on him and left a helpless princess to freeze to death will not change the fact that he is a coward monster"

"Hans is no coward monster, _you_ are!" I yelled. Gordon growled in anger and would have attacked me if Herbert hadn't grabbed his jacket to hold him back.

"I suppose this is the part where you tell us we should be worried?" Herbert said with a smug look.

"And remind us why we should be?" Gordon added crossing his arms.

"You really want me to say it? Are you actually that lazy that you can't think by yourselves? " I said and chuckled with no humor "Oh, my goodness… how is it like in those tiny little brains of yours? It must be so boring!" I said provoking them. Gordon glared at me and so did Herbert. "Theodore may talk like an idiot, look like an idiot, and maybe he really _is_ an idiot, but he is not actually _that_ stupid. I'm 100% sure that when I tell him the reason behind Hans' actions, he won't be too happy about it. Let's not mention that Queen Elsa and Princess Anna won't be too happy about it either. I _know_ there must be something else behind all this and you can be sure that I _**will**_ figure it out. So, yes. I would be worried if I were you"

"This is where you are wrong, Skylynn" Herbert said "You are not going to tell anyone and won't uncover anything because this garden will be your grave" and he and Gordon took out their swords.

"Oh, there's the big surprise! Now you are threatening to kill me. Just like every other general and conceited soldier I killed during the Revolution" I said taking out my sword as well, my eyes never leaving them as they thought to be circling me, when actually I was the one doing so. "Before you two attack me, do me a favor, come to me one at a time. I don't like being outnumbered it makes too much _stupid_ in a room" that made them angry. Someone might think that making an armed 5'9" burly man and a 6'2" vice-admiral with a sword angry, isn't probably the smartest thing to do, but... _Make your opponent angry, use his anger to your advantage. Anger doesn't make you think. Focus._ This is what Hans taught me, what made me survive a year-long bloody war.  
Gordon was the one who stroke first, but I easily blocked the hit, got behind his back and kick his butt, making him fall straight on his face. Herbert took the opportunity to strike me as well, but I saw it coming. I moved and parried the hit and kneeled him in the stomach. As he was about to hit me again, Gordon was back on his feet and they tried to hit me at the same time, but I hopped back and they smashed onto each other drawing away the sword at the last moment. Herbert was the first to hit me again, I blocked his hit and dodged Gordon's hitting him behind the head with the hilt of my sword, sending him on the ground. I twirled on myself and deflected two hits from Herbert, crossing swords on his third hit.

"I have to admit, you fight almost as well as a man, _sis_ " he said smugly, calling me 'sis' in plain mockery.

"Thank you, too bad you don't" I provoked.

"You are going to regret that" he said with a deadly glare, pushing me away.

"I'm waiting, Big Boy" I taunted. He growled in rage and tried to hit me, first I deflected, then I blocked, and then I kicked him where the sun doesn't shine, sending him to the ground in pain. Gordon was still sprawled to the ground, touching his head where I had hit him, but then he got up trying to hit me again while I had my back on him. I saw it just in time, but he managed to hit my left arm as I deflected his hit, blood immediately trickling out of the wound.

"Hey! This is my official uniform!" I complained, parring another hit, not caring about my stinging arm. Plus, I liked my uniform!

"Well, look on the bright side! You won't be needing it much for much longer" he said and tried to hit me again, but I parried "I really hope my useless baby brother doesn't make it. You'll have a little company once you join him in Hell" he snarled. That made me furious.

"You lost the right of being his brother!" I yelled deflecting the hit and wounding him on the arm "You are not _worthy_ to be called a brother!" I deflected another hit and wounded his leg, Gordon yelped in pain "You are not a brother!" and I slashed him on the waist and on his cheek "A brother doesn't brutally beat his younger sibling!" I blocked a hit and wounded his knee, making him kneel down as he let out another painful growl "The twelve of you are just a pathetic excuses for a prince. It's _you_ Albert should be ashamed of!" and I punched him on the cheek with enough strength to send him down to the ground, making him let go of his sword. In the meantime, Herbert had gotten back on his feet and tried to hit me, but I blocked the hit and swiftly wounded him on his arm, on the leg, on the waist and elbowed him straight on the nose sending him down as well in a yep of pain.

"Come on! Finish us off! That's what you want, right? Do it!" Herbert said clutching his bleeding nose. I held my sword straight towards his neck ready to screw up my life for good and commit fratricide. My sword begging me to really taste blood once more. I would have lowered myself to their level, but unlike before, after this fight, I didn't care anymore. They deserved it. In a way… what did I have to lose? Family is not all about blood-ties, it's about bounds of unconditional love. It is support and in a way friendship as well… when did they ever show any sign of that? All we had in common were half of our blood and genes, nothing more. Those men were enemies, not my siblings and the more I was convincing myself of that, the more the impulse of thirst for blood made itself stronger. I was not a hero, I was scoundrel who was ready to kill those worse than her. The moment I pressed my sword on Herbert's neck, he remained silent, but a look of fear passed through his eyes… and that was good.

"There it is…" Gordon said with a sly half grin "The curse of the Westerguards, the thirst for vengeance… See, Skylynn, you talk a lot, but we are not that much different in the end" Something in my brain clicked as I heard him speak those words and a lesson I learned came flooding in to my mind like a wild stream: _Don't let your anger get the best of you. Don't be the monster people would want you to be_ . I remembered Hans telling me that like it were yesterday. I pulled my sword away from Herbert's neck and pointed it at Gordon's, who's eyes immediately flashed with Herbert's same fear.

"It's your curse…" I said seriously "…Not mine, not Hans's" I said. My sword lingered on his neck a moment longer, then keeping my eyes on them, I put it away, stepping back "Maybe next time, I'd rather start screaming like it is more appropriate for a lady to do" I said with a grin and turned around, walking away. The moment I did, I saw Elsa appear from behind a corner of the gardens. My first thought was: _crap. Lecture coming up._ But not a scolding came out of her mouth as she spoke up.

"SKYLYNN, LOOK OUT!" she yelled. I turned around and in that precise moment, Gordon had gotten up and was about to strike me, when a blast of ice blocked his hit pinning him to the ground blocking his legs in a huge piece of solid ice. The same went for Herbert. Realization dawned on me: Queen Elsa had just saved my life.

"Queen Elsa! What's the meaning of this?!" Herbert said playing stupid.

"It means that: I saw and heard everything, that King Theodore will be informed right away and that you two will face the consequences of attempted regicide" she said in a stern voice as a couple of guards appeared "Guards, take care of these two. Lieutenant" she called a guard.

"Yes, ma'am" he said

"Go inform King Theodore that Prince Herbert and Prince Gordon have attempted to Queen Skylynn's life and that I leave their punishment to him" she ordered.

"Yes, your Majesty. Right away" he said and ran off in search of King Theodore. Elsa's eyes set on me immediately.

"Skylynn, are you okay?" Elsa asked me as she got next to me.

"Yeah, I'm fine" then she saw my arm-

"Your arm, it's bleeding" she said.

"It's fine, just a scratch. It's nothing serious" I answered.

"That's up to the doctor to decide. Let's go" she said taking my other arm and leading me back to the castle. We walked in silence and as we passed through the castle corridors a few servants looked at us weirdly as they noticed my bleeding arm. We remained silent as we walked, then as we were out of unwanted earshot Elsa broke the ice.

"So, Hans really did try to take over Arendelle to prove himself to your brothers" she stated. She had figured it out. Good, that spared Hans some work.

"Yeah" I answered. Then Elsa went in what Hans would call it 'worried-little-sister-mode'.

"Why did you face them alone?! You knew it was dangerous, yet you did" she said.

"I had to" I said "What would you have done?"

"I would have gone to King Theodore right away, Skylynn. They could have killed you" Elsa said worriedly. I literally lit up.

"Is that _concern_ , the one I hear in your voice?" I said with a small cocky grin. Elsa lightly glared at me.

"The only concern I have is not having a foreign queen murdered in my country" she said waving it off. I didn't say anything but couldn't help letting out a side smile.

"Anyway… what do you think about Hans now?" I asked seriously. Elsa remained silent for a moment.

"This still doesn't change things. Knowing the reason for his actions, won't take away what he did to Anna and I" I narrowed my eyes at her and was about to say something but Elsa cut me off "But now, I will be more willing to give him a second chance" she said. I shut my mouth and when we stopped I realized, we were in front of the doctor's study. "I'll see you later, Skylynn" she said and was about to walk away when I called her.

"Elsa" I called. She stopped turning around "Thank you, for Hans" I paused "And thank you for saving my life today" None of us said anything, but our gazes met. My grey eyes and her crystal blue ones and then I saw it in her eyes. Only in that moment Elsa realized she had used her magic and saved me. She had used her powers and saved a life.  
She didn't reply, she just gave me a curtsying nod of the head, I did the same and then she walked away as I turned around and got inside the doctor's study to have my wound treated.

* * *

 **Hi! Guys! What do you think about this chapter? Your thoughts on Skylynn? Is she good or evil in disguise? As she told Elsa: is she the hero or the villain? Don't be shy and share your thoughts with a REVIEW!** **If I'm not wrong, there should be more Hans/Elsa interactions on the next chapter! Hooraaay!  
Sorry if the chapter was short, but there is a reason to that...  
**

 **REVIEW CHALLENGE DAY!**

 **If you guys can get this story to 65 REVIEWS I'LL UPDATE ON SUNDAY with a LONGER CHAPTER!  
If a review with constructive criticism happens to pass by I'll be more than grateful ;-)**

 **See you hopefully on Sunday!**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	11. Siblings

**And there you have it! The extra long chapter as a reward for your reviews!  
Now, I quoted a few songs in this chapter, can you guess which songs they are?**

 **A/N PLEASE READ:  
chapter is supposed to be touching, this is still part of the chapters I wrote about 3 years ago and I didn't want to change too much of it, so I hope it does result touching and not boring.  
2\. If some of you think there is going to be an Elsa/Skylynn pairing, NO, this story is not going there! It is more of a 'to trust or not to trust' relationship. (Though I admit, right now it is easy to think that LOL)  
3\. Before I get bad comments for it: Kristoff is not actually deliberately flirting with Elsa, he does that just to annoy her fro the sake of fooling around and be the clown of the situation, and as you will see he's very theatrical about it.  
**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Elsa's POV:**

After the… uhm… let's call it 'Skylynn attempted regicide incident', I went straight to my study mainly because I knew King Theodore would want to talk to me, second because I had to check the 'mail'. Once I was in my office I immediately got to work. As usual, I leave my study for less than an hour and my desk is packed with papers… being queen sucks at times…Not to mention that once again I found myself writing other two refusals to Weaseltown- I mean Weselton- to re-establish trading with them. I had just signed a few more papers when I heard loud footsteps and a knock on the door. _This must be Theodore, he's not very light on his feet._

"Come in" I said standing up. Just as I thought, Theodore opened the door.

"Queen Elsa, I've been informed of what happened" he said worriedly, closing the door behind him.

"So you _are_ aware that your brothers tried to kill Queen Skylynn, who is also your half-sister?" I said sternly clasping my hands in front of me.

"Yes, I am" he said "How is Skylynn?" he asked, with what seemed like concern.

"She'll probably need a couple stitches on her arm, but she's fine" I answered "You should see your brothers, Prince Herbert probably has a broken nose"

"I better ask our doctor to take a look at them" he said gravely, shame written all over his face "But I'm not here to discuss that, I came here for their punishment, the guard said your will was leaving it to me"

"Precisely" I said.

"Queen Elsa, with all due respect, I don't think I can do that. I suppose you remember our law" he said.

"I do and this is my decision" I said "This attempted regicide has nothing to do with Arendelle, I was just a witness, so you can't leave this to me. The fact that your brothers have tried to kill your half-sister is personal family business in which I don't want to have anything to do with, in the first place, and second of all, _you_ need to sort out"

"What you say is true, Queen Elsa, but our law says that I can't do that" he said.

"With all due respect, King Theodore, weren't you the one who told Queen Skylynn that you could ignore that law and sentence Hans right away? Why does it sound like you are… how shall I put this?" I said unsure of what his reaction might be. The fact that Theodore was trying to avoid his responsibility was clear, but he was still a king and I had to be careful with how I spoke to him.

"Don't sugar-coat it, say it 'Skylynn style' if you have. I can take it" he said. _Okay, so brutally untactful it is._

"Like you are afraid of taking on your responsibility as king" I stated.

"Excuse me?" he said glaring at me with indignation.

"You said to say it like Skylynn would. No sugar-coating and I did" I said raising my hands in surrender. His angered face immediately relaxed as he silently reminded himself that he had indeed said that. "You know that another thing I can do is handing the Princes to Queen Skylynn herself and you and I both know she will stick to her country's laws, send them to Drakora and have Princess Angel sentence them. I suppose you know what is the penalty for attempted regicide in Drakora, if Skylynn hasn't changed some laws already" King Theodore nodded defeated.

"Death by beheading" he finished. I gave him a small nod of the head looking at him sternly "Alright" he said "I'll take them back to the Isles and deal with them, if this is your sentence" he said.

"It is" I added.

"Very well" he said "We'll leave this evening, your Majesty. Thank you for your hospitality and I wanted to formally apologize for my brothers' behavior. I promise nothing like that is going to be repeated ever again"

"It better not" I said coldly "Apology accepted" Then King Theodore gave me a bow of the head and was about to leave the study, then he stopped and turned around.

"Queen Elsa" he called "Would it be too much if I asked for General Ryder to stay here until Hans has paid his debt with justice? Consider him an ambassador of the Southern Isles" he suggested. I thought about it for a moment. If there was someone who I was more keen into trusting between the Westerguards, the drakorian queen and the Southern Isles' general, that would definitely be Storm.

"I'll inform General Ryder myself about his new orders" I said. King Theodore gave me a small nod "I'll meet you at the docks when you depart"

"Very well. See you then, Queen Elsa" then he bowed his head again and left the study. As soon as he got out, I went on taking care of my queenly duties, like paperwork and meetings. _Speaking of which, I need something for that particular meeting with my ministers._  
Immediately, I went out of the office and into the castle halls looking for Anna. As I was about to pass a hallway, walking in silence, I overheard a few of my ministers speaking my name. I stopped right around the corner, listening to their conversation. I know, it's rude to eavesdrop, but after what I found out, I didn't trust the aristocracy speaking my name as much.

"I wouldn't worry too much about this Friday's meeting, gentlemen" said one of them.

"Yeah, I suppose you are right, Marquise" said another.

"Count George, you don't seem very convinced about this" said the Marquise.

"Well, there has to be a reason if the queen wants us all there. I believe we should be a bit concerned about this" said the Count.

"Oh, come on! What will she do? It's not like she will… I don't know... freeze over our house if we did something she doesn't really approve of. Plus, I personally wouldn't care if she did. My last household was a present. I didn't even know about it!" said the third man with pride.

"You mean the one in front of Arendelle's Arena, Baron Westley?" asked the Count

"Precisely" _Someone_ _ **gifted**_ _you with a household in front of Arendelle's Arena and you didn't even know about it? They can't possibly say any bigger crap now, it's not possible…_

"She probably is going to lecture us about our pay checks" said the Marquise "We all know that Queen Elsa is a democratic monarch who sincerely believes in the power of the people, and by 'people' I mean the middle-class and the commoners. She's probably going to complain about our pay-checks and do nothing afterwards, waiting for us to lower them, just like her mother. Queen Idun used to do that but in the end, followed King Adgar, now _he_ was a king" he paused "Personally, I agree with what Sir Harold Brenner once said: I don't know if we're paid too much for what we do, certainly we aren't paid enough" _Forget what I said earlier, it_ _ **is**_ _possible to say even bigger crap._

"That's exactly why we shouldn't worry too much" said the Baron "She has always followed her father's rules, plus, she's too much of a softy to risk losing our support for the commoners and middle-class" he paused "This is something that worries me, our queen may have ice powers, but she is a softy, _and_ she's now 21 years-old. I suppose we all agree she should be looking for a suitable husband by now"

"Of course, but she has rejected all of them and now that her secret powers are out, many rather not get involved with… whatever forces she wields. Maybe that is something we should bring up during the meeting and try to find her a husband" said the Marquise.

"I agree" said the Count "We should find her someone who realizes the importance of our supremacy over the common ignorant people. Someone who can help her be a great monarch. Queen Elsa has potential, I have to give her that, but… a queen without a king? Not possible, especially for someone as soft and mentally fragile as her"

"You are absolutely right about that, Count" said the Marquise, then they turned the other corner and I couldn't hear anything. I narrowed my eyes at the conversation I just heard.

" _Mentally fragile_ , my foot" I muttered under my breath and continuing my search of Anna, fuming with irritation. _A husband? Thanks, but no thanks. Point 1: I'm perfectly capable of ruling on my own. I'm who I am and I don't need a man. Point 2: if I'm getting married that will be because_ _ **I**_ _want to. Point 3: my mother was a great queen. She never did anything because she made a pact with my father. And point 4: You all wait until Friday, then you'll see how I'm going to_ _ **kick**_ _your asses- excuse my French, but- hey!- no one said a queen can't curse in her head._  
My search for Anna, became frantic, I needed to speak with her now. Then I needed to speak with Kristoff. When I checked the library, oddly enough, I found both Anna and Kristoff there. Kristoff was sitting on the couch with Anna laying on it resting her head on his lap, while he was reading a book, holding it in one hand and holding Anna's with the other as she fiddled with his fingers. None of them noticed me. It was a cute scene, really, I was tempted to walk out of the room and not disturb them. I stood there quietly, then after a few verses I figured out what he was reading: Dante's Divine Comedy, Cantos V.

" _Love that in a gentle heart is quickly learnt,  
Entangled by him by that fair form, from me_  
 _Ta'en in such cruel sort as grieves me still"_ Kristoff read, it was my favorite part, so I joined in the last line he had just read, surprising them both. But Kristoff kept reading smiling at me.  
" _Love that denial takes from none belov'd,  
Caught me with pleasing him so passing well  
That, as thou see'st, he yet deserts me not" _we read in chorus before stopping "I still can't believe you actually got him into liking Dante, Anna. It looks like our mountain man has good taste" I said smiling at them, as Anna sat up straight.

"Thank you" Kristoff said with a nod of the head.

"I didn't do anything. I just suggested him to read it" Anna said smiling "Isn't he handsome when he reads Dante?" she said giving him a kiss on the cheek. I shook my head holding back a smile.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you two lovebirds, but I need to ask you both a favor" I said stepping closer to them in a more serious tone "This Friday, I have a meeting with all my ministers-"

"-Is something wrong? Did something happen?" Anna asked cutting me off.

"No, not yet. But there is something wrong, a lot of things are wrong because of our father's -uhm… _friendliness_ towards aristocrats" I explained "Some things need to change, but I need your help to do what I intend to" the two shared a look with each other.

"Shoot" they said in unison.

"Anna" I said "I'm going to ask Kai to summon a public assembly in Arendelle's square. You need you to go there and select 2 representatives of each district of Arendelle, make sure that the selection is purely made by the people and as random as possible. I just need representatives to listen and report to their districts. No decisions that need the ministers are going to be taken. The selection must be from both middle-class and commoners. Tell them that they will participate to Friday's council meeting"

"Sure, I'm on it. You can count on me. That's what a right hand is for, right?" Anna said seriously.

"Thanks, Anna" I said stroking her cheek once "Kristoff" he snapped his head back to me "Are you free tomorrow?" he looked at me raising an eyebrow.

"I have to work, tomorrow" he said uncertainly.

"No, you have the queen's permission to take a day off. So are you free?" I said eyeing him. He looked at Anna with a smirk.

"Kristoff…" Anna warned hiding a smile, then he turned back to me.

"I _could_ be free, tomorrow… why?" he smirked.

"Would you like to have lunch at the parliament's dining hall? My treat. You'll have to dress up as an Honorable and have lunch there, then bring me the check, I need it for this Friday. Make sure they don't recognize you" He nodded his head, then his smirk got wider. Anna face-palmed the moment she saw his mischievous look. My sister already knew he was about to put on another annoying Don Juan show just to aggravate me, but I was still hoping he would restrain himself at the moment.

"Oh, Elsa I'm flattered. There is no need for you to put up all this 'secret mission' show" he began "But as you can see, I'm an engaged man who's fiancée is none other than your little sister" he said putting an arm around Anna's shoulders, as she shook her head hiding her face with a hand.

"Here he goes again…" she muttered apologetically towards me.

"So I'm sorry but I have to decline your date invitation" he went on.

"What?! No! I'm not asking you out!" I said immediately, my eyes darting from him to Anna.

"Elsa, really it's fine. I know I'm an attractive guy and if you weren't into me I'd probably be pretty offended. Your attention is really flattering, though" he leaned forward holding back a smile. I glared at him as he once again succeeded in annoying me.

"Kristoff, I'm serious. Would you please do me this favor?" I asked seriously.

"Don't worry I'm on it" he said getting out of character for a moment, then his smirk came back and he was in character once more"Still, if you were to ask me out again, why don't you ask me later when we're _alone_?" he added in fake whispering with a theatrical flirty wink.

"Kristoff!" Anna said smacking him the chest with the back of her hand.

"What? It's not my fault I am so irresistible that even the Ice Queen melts at my charms" he said with a smirk. Anna glared playfully at him, but he just smiled jokingly. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, Kristoff" I sighed "Especially since you are as utterly charming as you are irritating"

"Ouch…you wound me" he said feign hurt. I rolled my eyes as Anna shook her head.

"Remind me why you agreed on marrying him, again?" I asked my sister.

"I'm asking myself that too, actually" Anna replied "Why did I agree on marrying you?" she said turning to Kristoff.

"I'm pretty sure it's because I love you and you love me back" he replied with a loving look. Anna blushed smiling back, and turned back to me.

"There's our answer" she said in playful resignation. I shook my head smiling.

"Bye" I said turning around and walking towards the door, deciding it was time to leave them to their couple reading time.

"My offer is still up, though!" Kristoff said. Next thing he knew was the snowball I created hit him square in the face as Anna burst out laughing "I'll take that as a 'no'…" he mumbled wiping away the snow from his face not even trying to hide a smile.

"Nice shot, Elsa" Anna said laughing. I turned around and gave her a small curtsy.

"Thank you" and with that I walked out of the room and back into the corridors. The rest of the day went by normally. In the evening while I was on my way to meeting Storm, before King Theodore's departure, I had met Skylynn on the way. She had changed out of her cut and blood-stained uniform into more casual clothes… a white V-neck shirt, dark green trousers and black boots, her belt with the sword nowhere to be seen. As we met in the corridor, I asked her how was her arm and just as I thought, she only needed a few stitches and had it bandaged. We didn't say anything after that, only that we'll see each other at dinner. After that short encounter, I went to my meeting with Storm. As I entered the east wing living room, Storm was already there, looking at some of the few portraits on the wall.

"I hope I haven't kept you waiting for too long" I said walking towards him. He turned around smiling and walked towards me.

"As long as I get to see you, you can keep me waiting for as much as you want" he said taking my hand and planting a kiss on the back of it. I blushed at his answer trying to hide my smile. _Geez… 13 years of solitude did do a lot of damage. What do you answer to a guy who is flirting with you?... Because he_ _ **is**_ _flirting, right?_

"Shall we take a seat?" I answered… _Geez I'm so formal!_ He nodded with a smile and waited for me to seat on the couch first, folding my hands on my lap, then he sat down next to me "So" I started "Before you tell me why you wanted to see me, I need to inform you of a few things" I said seriously he nodded "Earlier today, Skylynn was assaulted by Prince Herbert and Prince Gordon"

"What?" Storm said immediately concerned "Is she okay? What happened?" he asked. To tell the truth, it kind of surprised me how concerned Storm immediately looked. They must have been good friends before their fight.

"She's fine. She just got a few stitches on her arm, but she's okay. Too bad I can't say the same for her half-brothers. She managed to send both of them to the ground, Herbert probably has a broken nose, too" I said.

"How was she fighting?" he suddenly asked. He might have his reasons but to me it sounded an odd question.

"Normal, I guess. She didn't seem to be putting too much effort in it until…"

"Until?"

"Gordon made a comment that hit a soft spot. She was furious. For a moment, I thought she was going to kill them, but she didn't in the end" I explained.

"Well, that's good" he commented.

"Why do you ask?"

"I saw Skylynn fight during the war. We were a team. It was always Skylynn, Landon and I together. I saw that the anger she had inside and the hell she was living along with the feelings she had bottled up for so long just… exploded in a merciless warrior. When in battle, she's someone else, especially when she's angry "" he paused for a moment "There's this thing about Skylynn, she may have not received the drakorian military training for as long as the rest of the soldiers have, but she is a war machine herself. Landon gave us a goal and she would just go for it until she obtained it. Her mind is so logical and analytical that it's like there is a battle strategy book in it and once she has a plan to reach her goal, she would stop at nothing until she gets it and when I say that 'she will stop at nothing' I mean it. You have no idea how many times she disobeyed Landon's orders, but every time she did, we were another step ahead of Hugh. In summary, if you get into a duel with an angry Skylynn you might as well write your will, because you're not going to make it out alive" he said. Personally, I have no idea what my face was like, I just knew that after a second of silence Storm immediately spoke up worried he had said the wrong thing. "No, don't think bad! She's good, she's an amazing woman! I'm talking about when we were at war. I mean- it's not like that if you argue she's not going to kill you- I mean- she _isn't_ going to kill you- I'm just saying- I mean- she _has_ moral values" I smiled and place a hand on his arm catching his attention.

"Storm, I get it. Don't worry… but she is confusing and I don't know if after today things are going to change" I said. He raised an inquisitive eyebrow "Let's just say that I may have... sort of… maybe… saved her life today. Gordon was about to attack her from behind when she was walking away after sparing them and put her sword away, and I… may have gotten both him and Herbert stuck with their feet in an ice block" I said. Storm chuckled.

"Nice shot, then" he complimented.

"Thank you" I said.

"No, thank _you_ " he said. That left me puzzled for a moment as I looked at him, but Storm had found a certain interest in the floor. _What did he mean by that?_ We remained silent for a moment until we both cleared our throats.

"So, anyway" I said breaking the awkward tension between us "King Theodore is going to depart soon and bring his brothers back to the isles and punish them"

"Oh…" he said kind of disappointed "Then I guess, I'll be leaving too"

"Actually you aren't. King Theodore wants you to stay here until Hans has paid his debt with both Anna and I and Arendelle. He told me to consider you an ambassador of the Southern Isles" I smiled at him "So, are you willing to accept this mission, General?" Storm smiled back.

"I'd be honored, your Majesty" he answered "Plus" he began, using his hand to place a strand of my hair behind my ear. I had to force myself not to move back, not because of him, but because this touching thing is still kind of new to me. It's hard to kill old habits. Apart from Anna the only person I freely allowed to touch me (only if alone… sometimes… _very_ rarely… _**extremely**_ rarely) was Kristoff, since he's practically family, now. Olaf is a snowman, so he doesn't count. "Accepting this mission means I'll be able to see you more often and hopefully spend more time getting to know you… I look forward to it" Storm said looking at me in the eyes. I couldn't help but blush.

"Me too" I said staring back at him. He then was about to say something else, and placed his hand on mine, but before he could speak I pulled my hand away.

"I'd rather not" I said as he took his hand away.

"I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"-No, Storm, it's not you. It's me. I'm trying not to wear gloves anymore and control my powers. I only allow Anna to touch my hands. Last time, you kind of caught me off guard. I thought it was going to be a formal goodbye" I explained. Yes, I was trying to get used to this touching thing, but my hands were the only thing I was really careful with since most of my power came out from there.

"I understand, no hands" he said, then he smiled and held out his index finger "Is this okay?" he asked. I smiled holding back a giggle and laced my index finger with his.

"It is" I said smiling widely.

"Will I ever see your powers in action?" Storm asked somehow hopeful.

"Maybe… one day" I answered "Will I ever know why you left the Drakorian army for the Southern Isles?"

"Yes… one day, I promise" he answered. We looked at each other in the eyes and smiled to one another. Then I looked at the clock on the wall behind him.

"King Theodore will be departing in a few minutes" I said "I need to go" I said letting go of his finger and standing up.

"So do I" he said as he stood as well "I'll accompany you to the docks" he said and offered me his arm which I gladly accepted and together we went to the docks to say our goodbyes to the King of the Southern Isles.

* * *

Four days have passed since the 'Skylynn attempted regicide incident', and everything was fine at the moment. Kristoff successfully brought me the parliament's dining hall check, Anna managed to get the representatives and judging from the papers she brought me, she did some more research herself and she did a great job, and Skylynn didn't do anything she wasn't supposed to… for now, but she had also never left her place outside of Hans' door, except for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I could see she really didn't want to stay away from that door, she came down to dine with us because she was just being polite. Anna sometimes tried to go cheer her up, but when she came back she said she had little results. Obviously Anna had noticed her cut and blood stained uniform when we were going to the royal doctor's study, and she immediately went on alarm-mode, but Skylynn had politely sent her away telling her what happened, including the part of me saving her (I couldn't help but smile timidly at Anna's proud look towards me) without explaining the topic of the argument, and that she was fine. In these days, I've been checking on Hans. The wounds were probably still bad, but the fever was luckily fading away. When I would visit, to keep his temperature in check, I would usually dust his forehead with a thin layer of snow. He seemed to enjoy it, since his expression relaxed a bit every time I did.  
I was on my way to his room once more, and as usual, Skylynn was there fiddling with her necklace. As I stepped closer, I noticed her necklace was exactly like the one Hans had, but instead of gold with a silver dot, it was silver with a golden dot. She had the other half of Hans' necklace, hers meaning _'you can be good but not completely'_.

"So, you have the other half of the necklace" I stated. Skylynn looked up at me and nodded. I placed a hand on her shoulder and sat down next to her. She didn't say anything but just kept fiddling with it.

"Hans gave it to me when I was ten, he was fifteen at the time" she began "As usual, he showed up in the late morning and that morning he had a small package. It wasn't my birthday, but he said he just felt like giving me a present. When I opened the box I found the necklaces together. He told me what they meant separately and that when together they mean _'the perfect union of opposites'_. The perfect union of opposites isn't necessarily the bond between two lovers. It could be the one between two friends, two siblings, parent and child... these necklaces represent our bond, even though we're anything but opposites. Before going to Drakora, other than my mother, Hans was the only real family I had. He has always been there for me" she paused for a moment, took a deep breath and went on

"When I was little" she continued "I had this bad habit of getting into fights, at first it was usually with the other kids in the small village outside the town's walls, where my mother and I went to live. I wasn't usually the one who started them, though… they taunted me and when I exploded, I reacted. Hans would always protect me and get me out of trouble. The same went whenever I met the rest of my half-siblings. Usually it would end up with them beating me up and Hans would always stand up for me and get the rest. ' _If you're going to the doctor, I'm going to the doctor_ ' he would say. He taught me how to swordfight, you know? He taught me archery, horseback riding, hand combat, survival essential basics… dancing. When I got older I tried to take it a step forward and self-taught me some tricks like backflips and stuff, but Hans would help, just to make sure I didn't break my neck doing them" she said letting out a chuckle.

"Backflips? Really?" I said amused.

"You are allowed not to believe me, but I can actually do them" she replied. I lightly smiled and let her go on talking "Training started when I was six and went on until I was fifteen and left the Isles for Drakora" Skylynn continued "When he was old enough that his parents would allow him to go out according to his own will, training would start early in the morning and finish at early sunset. My mother was glad he would come by, because she had no one to leave me with and she had found a new job. Our weekends were spent at my house. In the morning, mom would homeschool me with the basics, in the afternoon, Hans would come teach me how to run royal business. Of course, this started when he was around my age, now, and I was like… twelve? Thirteen? Hans taught me everything. Everything I am… I owe it to his teachings…" she paused once more

"When everything felt like it was crushing me" she continued "Hans was always there to help me through… do you know why I also have my father's last name? It was Hans who convinced Albert into giving me his last name, because he knew what was the treatment for the 'children of sin', as they call us in the isles. He knew that for those like me, having their father's last name means that you have a family behind your back and that you're not alone. Mostly it told people that even if a bastard I was still a Westerguard, so bounded to the royal family. The only people I had to be on the lookout for, then, were my half-brothers. Hans would support me in everything I did, he got me into music and taught me how to play a few instruments. _Conceal. Don't feel. Don't let it show_ , Hans taught me that when it comes to emotions. He taught me to hide my true feelings to prevent certain reactions to touchy topics, because people could use those topics to break my mind. He was the one who told me to block out my half-brothers' words and not care about what they thought. But he also taught me to let it go and be who I am without caring what other people thought about me, because no matter what I do, everyone will always find a flaw in it" Skylynn paused "I know I have probably bored you and you might think I'm actually trying to get you to pity me, but what I'm trying to say is that… Hans was there when I needed a father. Even when I lived in the palace, I have never once _talked_ to Albert and I'm not exaggerating when I say that I'm not even sure he knew my name before I became queen. Hans is not just my big brother… he is… the dad I never had" Skylynn sighed and leaned back on the couch "If only I had realized sooner what they were doing to him…" she said

"Skylynn don't blame yourself" I said realizing where she was going.

"If he came here to steal your throne because he felt the need to prove himself to those buttheads, part of it is my fault. He stood next to me for the whole time, but where was I when he needed me? I am positive that even if he hasn't rationally thought about it, in his sub-consciousness he must have thought: _'How come did Skylynn make it I didn't? How come she's sixteen, found love, got married to a king and became queen while I can't even get out of my siblings' grasp? How come I haven't made it yet even though I taught her everything she knows?'_ I'm sure of it _._ Even if he kept up that strong demeanor, he was hurting inside, badly… and then he just cracked because that's what happens when your head is under such a psychological pressure made up of years of humiliation with people ignoring you, telling you you're worthless, a waste of space, not believing in you and pretending you don't exist along with physical pain, that you reach a point when you just crack! A-And when that happens you don't lose just track of what's right and wrong, but more importantly of who you are because you start believing that if who you are doesn't take you anywhere, then acting like who others want you to be will solve everything… and that's what Hans did…" Skylynn paused, gulping hard "He was the anchor that didn't allow me to lose myself, no matter how many times I was tempted to give in into the darkness… and when it was my turn I wasn't there. I failed him. He must have given me some signs, silently communicating his distress, but… how come I never saw them?"

"Skylynn, you need to stop blaming yourself. Hans was trying to protect you. He didn't want you to worry about him" I told her, reassuringly.

"We did that same thing, Elsa" she said "We both were aiming to show the world that we're worth something. I wanted to be a successful general or admiral, Hans wanted to become king. I never wanted to be queen, I never felt suitable for such a responsibility and I still don't. It wasn't in my plans but… I fell in love, and if I had to take over all these responsibilities to be with Landon then, screw the plan and my fears of being inadequate, I'm going to marry him" she paused again "Still, we did the same thing, but how come Hans is the master and he's the one who took the wrong path? Why did he listen to those monsters when he was the first to tell me not to? How come-"

"How come you managed to follow the path he showed you and he didn't?" I said. Skylynn held her head low.

"When I left the Southern Isles, Hans was like he has always been: affectionate, caring, kind, playful. Now, two years later, I find him guilty of treason and attempted regicide, in a dungeon, shutting me out and trying to push me away, wishing to be dead"

"And all because of them" I finished. Skylynn didn't dare to look at me in the eyes and took a deep breath.

"I guess we just… lost track of each other" she said looking at her necklace. There was a moment of silence. After all this confession, I looked at Skylynn differently. Under that cynical, arrogant mask there is a woman with a hard past where her only family was her mother and her half-brother. Under that mask, there was a woman who literally fought her way to freedom through blood and fire and is doing the same to grant her older brother that possibility because she feels responsible of his actions. Skylynn feels the need to make it up to him. Maybe Skylynn was no threat. Maybe she wasn't here for Arendelle, but indeed, was here just for Hans. It reminded me of what happened between Anna and I.

 _You reach a point when you just crack! And when that happens you don't lose just track of what's right and wrong, but more importantly of who you are because you start believing that if who you are doesn't take you anywhere, then acting like who others want you to be will solve everything_ , those were the words that hit me like a ton of iron bricks. When Skylynn spoke those words it had been like someone had just blasted me with lighting. I knew what she was talking about. I knew it very well because I lived most of my life that way. I was the perfect little princess everyone wanted me to be because I thought that it would make things better. I was psychologically pressured myself. I too have found myself facing an inner darkness… and like Skylynn I had an anchor who held me on the right path. But that wasn't all.

Listening to Skylynn's word I now really understood how Anna must have felt for all those years and all because of me. Anna came looking for me when I left because she felt responsible and guilty. For years she believed I shut her out because of something she did, when I was just trying to protect her. Anna sacrificed herself for me when I was the one who froze her heart. She is the only one who has always believed in me; Anna had never once doubted me and my magic and I never thanked her. Skylynn and Hans were going through the same thing, but this is not Anna and I we're talking about, it's _Hans and Skylynn_ , two people that are far from different. None of them is going to let go until they get what they want. If someone doesn't do something, they are never going to reach up to one another. In that moment I made up my mind: first, I'm letting them talk; second, as soon as I'm done here I'm going to thank Anna.

"I'm going to check on him" I told Skylynn, she just looked at me and nodded "If he's awake I'll let you see him" that got her attention, as she immediately looked up at me.

"Are you?" she asked unsure.

"I am" I answered.

"Thank you, Elsa" I didn't say anything but simply patted her shoulder and got inside the room. The doctor wasn't there and Hans was laying on his bed asleep. I walked to the bed and sat next to him putting a hand on his forehead to see if he had a temperature. He did, but it wasn't that bad anymore. I couldn't help myself but look at his sleeping face. He was handsome, indeed, and without those ridiculous sideburns he looked much better. He was still skinny, but the bruises on his face were now gone, his hand wasn't bandaged anymore and his leg was probably healed. His back was the problem. I moved my hand from his forehead to his cheek trying to cool him down.

"As much as I hate to admit I'm enjoying this, I suggest you to take those queenly hands away from my face" he said with his eyes closed. I jumped back to my feet in surprise taking my hand away from his face as Hans opened his eyes.

"You're awake!" I exclaimed.

"Well… duh!" he said smugly "Now, let's go straight to business, why am I in a guest room?" he said rudely. I glared at him.

"Why do you think? Maybe because you scared off my servants and got your wounds infected?" I said irritated "You were lucky enough that-"

"- _LUCKY_?!" he thundered angrily cutting me off "You call this being ' _lucky_ '?! I was serious when I asked you to kill me! I'd rather be dead! I lost _everything,_ Elsa! _Everything_! What's the point for me in living now?!"

"So that's it? You are going to let your brothers win" I snapped, ignoring his lack of addressing me with my title.

"You don't know anything about me and my brothers, so try to find some other topic to argue on" he said. His green eyes staring angrily in my blue ones. Then I saw it again. The fury he had when he tried to kill me the second time, the one he had when he yelled the only thing he was sorry for was not killing Anna and I, but now I knew that that fury was not directed towards me, but towards his brothers.

"I think I'm going to stay on the topic since I know more about you and your brothers than you think" I said. Hans scoffed mockingly.

"Enlighten me, then" he said smugly.

"You tried to take over Arendelle to prove yourself to your brothers" I stated. His smug look disappeared and was replaced with shock "They have tortured you for years and made you feel like such a nothingness that you felt the need to prove your strength to them"

"Stop it…" he said menacingly.

"They filled your head with the idea of you being worthless and a dead weight"

"Enough, Elsa…" he said raising his voice.

"You felt so submitted to them that you felt the need to become king no matter what, that you didn't think twice about ending two lives" I continued.

"Enough"

"You felt like such a failure that you didn't even realize you wondered why Skylynn did it and you didn't, you were jealous of her yourself!"

"SHUT UP!" he yelled sitting up but yelped in pain immediately after that. I rushed back to him trying to push him back down, but he pushed my hands away as soon as I was about to touch him. Then he repositioned the pillow and sat up leaning on the headboard. Then he looked back at me glaring.

"What happened? Did I touch a sore spot?" I said challenging.

"You know nothing about me…or Skylynn. Get out of here" he said angrily.

"You know what? Fine. I'm going out and let you and Skylynn talk" I said.

"No! I don't want to see her. I don't want to talk to her. Just let me be"

"No, Hans. I _am_ letting Skylynn in and you _are_ going to talk to her because you have a problem, but even if I figured it out too-"

"- You don't know any-"

"-quiet! The queen is speaking" I snapped. He looked at me surprised "Even if I figured it out too and had the actual proof right in front of me, this is something you and Skylynn need to sort out"

"Do whatever the hell you want. I'm not going to talk to her. I don't need her" he said.

"There it is!" I said sarcastically "The door we both just 'love' to slam in our sibling's face. Run away from your problems, shut her out! You seemed to be doing a pretty good job in the dungeons. Once she's in here, you can kick her out if you want, but know that Skylynn's the only one who's not 100% convinced that you are the monster here"

"Oh, that's rich! You can think whatever you want, I honestly don't care! You're just a coward scaredy-cat who froze her own sister to death" he barked. That felt like a knife being mercilessly plunged into my heart "Anna has always believed in you, and how did you repay her? By shutting her out and freezing her heart! Three years ago, my parents came to King Adgar and Queen Idun's funeral, and you know what? Rumor said that Anna buried her parents- _your_ parents- _**alone**_. Face it Elsa, you and I aren't that much different"

" _We_ are nothing alike. I shut Anna out because I wanted to protect her and I didn't mean to freeze her heart, it was an accident. You are shutting out Skylynn when she voluntarily attached her chariot to yours to save _you_. Anna didn't have to. You know what's the other difference between me and you? I never wanted to kill anybody"

"I wouldn't be too sure on that one, your Majesty" he snapped "Those two men… in your ice palace… you didn't just try to defend yourself, no… having them pinned down wasn't enough for you. You wanted to destroy them. You _**wanted**_ them **dead**.Yes,I didwant to kill you, but that wasn't the original plan. No" he smirked "I never came here for Anna. When I first came here, I came here for _you_ "

"What?" that caught me off guard

"You heard me. The original plan was to woo _you_ " he said "As thirteenth in line to the throne I didn't stand a chance. I had to marry into the throne and at the time, you were the only best option available: young, beautiful and soon-to-be queen. My original plan was much more peaceful. Thing is Anna accidentally made my plans change since, well… no one was getting anywhere with you and since I couldn't get the heir, I went for the spare. I simply would have had to marry Anna and stage a little accident for you afterwards"

"You are despicable" I said harshly.

"So I've been told" he said "Too bad you were such a recluse. Everything could have been much easier if you were a tad bit more open to socialization. If it weren't for the 'Prince Charming' character I had to keep up, even when your powers were revealed, I still would have been willing to marry you"

"I don't fall so easily to a man's charms" I replied coldly.

"Perhaps, but you will eventually have to marry. Arendelle needs an heir. Tell me Elsa, how many suitors do you receive now that news of your powers is going around the world?" there was that dagger again "Who else would want to marry to the Snow Queen?" another stab "Face it, Elsa, if I were free right now, I would be the only one around to be willing to marry you" I glared at him "You know, royal gossip goes by really fast among servants, I heard Storm is courting you. Well, I'm sorry to inform you, that as much as Storm might be welcoming and charming he too will back away, because in the end, eventually everyone is scared of your powers" another stab "Storm will leave you, just like that" he added mercilessly, with a snap of his fingers "Face it, who would be crazy enough to marry a monster?" That was the biggest stab. Part of me believed him, part of me was screaming _'screw him!'_. But he had made all valid points and as usual, he had hit sore spots. How did he know they were my weak spots? By observing, just like Skylynn does. It took all my strength not to freeze the whole room and keep up an emotionless face. I was not going to give him this satisfaction. _Conceal, don't feel, don't let it show,_ just like Skylynn said. But as I met his gaze, I knew I could mask all I wanted, but he knew he had hit me where it hurt most.

"I didn't come here to talk about me and my personal life, I came here to speak about you" I said sternly, trying to keep my face emotionless.

"What do you want me to tell you, hu?" Hans snapped "You want an apology? You want me to beg for your forgiveness? Well, that's never going to happen. I'd rather have you leave me to rot in the dungeons, freeze me, kill me and make it easier for everyone around. I have nothing to lose. I am-"

"-a selfish coward that talks too much! _That's_ what you are!" I cut him off "That's easy right? Well, you better start liking the idea that _that_ is never going to happen because getting yourself killed and not face the consequences of your actions and your inner demons is too easy!"

"This is my life and if I want to be over with it. I will" he said glaring at me

"Skylynn is your sister, Hans Westerguard. I may not know _her_ much but I know just enough _about_ her" I stated "You two grew up together. She says that she owes everything to you, that she has learnt a lot from you, but is possible that _you_ haven't learnt anything from _her_?! You should know better than I do that when she was a kid, even if you two were on the same boat, her side of the boat was the one that would always sink first. You lived in a castle, while she was kicked out and her mother, _your_ tutor, lost her job and was put out on the streets with a child to raise. _She_ is the one who had _nothing_! But you saw what happened, Skylynn showed you all. She made it! She fights for what she believes in, she won't let anything stop her from reaching her goal. And you know why? Because Skylynn is one of those women that never gives up. _Never_! She'd rather erase everything and start over from zero. Which is what I did! Which is what Anna did! Which is what _you_ should be doing right now!" I paused "Work your guts out, for once in your life, Hans! For _once_ , you too, work your guts out! Skylynn has done all she could for you. Heck- she put her neck on the line for you!-"

"-Don't you think I know that?!"

"I said: quiet. I'm not done" I snapped, shocking him again "You don't deserve a sister like Skylynn and you should be thankful to have her. I spoke to her before coming in here and of all the things she said there was one thing that struck me: _you reach a point when you just crack. And when that happens you don't lose just track of what's right and wrong, but more importantly of who you are because you start believing that if who you are doesn't take you anywhere, then acting like who others want you to be will solve everything_. I hope she's right when she says that this is what happened to you. You have been the anchor that kept her from losing herself and, unfortunately for me, you have been that for me too in the ice palace! Now she feels like she has failed you when it was her turn to be that anchor. Skylynn has showed you a path, like you did once for her, now it's your turn to follow it!" Hans looked away from me, not daring to meet my eyes. I paused for a moment as I felt myself calm down, from what I had just admitted to him

"Reach up to her, Hans" I continued "Erase everything from your old life and start again from zero. Skylynn gave you the opportunity of a second chance to start over. You may deny it all you want, but I know you care about her, so if you don't want to do this for yourself, do it for your sister" I said with my voice softer. Hans didn't say a word. He only turned his head to face the other side and not look at me. Then, silently, I walked towards the door, but as I was about to turn the doorknob, I turned around to face him again "I'm not asking you to open up to me, I'm asking you to open up to Skylynn, because the next time you shut her out, I may not be there to save her and you are going to regret it" I said. That got his attention as he snapped his head towards me.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, _finally_ with what seemed to be worry.

"Skylynn was the first to figure out the reason behind your actions,-well- four days ago she went to confront your brothers, Herbert and Gordon, _alone_ " I started "They tried to kill her, Hans. They tried to kill her because of _you_ " he looked at me with wide eyes, with… fear and worry. Now, I was the one who was hitting sore spots. If he was going to play this game, then so was I. Now he knew what I was feeling when he had told me I had killed Anna. Part of me wanted to inflict more pain, but the other part was the one that won the battle: I'm not like him "She had them both to the ground though, but once she had put her sword back Gordon tried to hit her from behind. He failed because I got him trapped in a block of ice and did the same with Herbert"

"H-how is she?" Hans asked not looking at me in the eyes.

"She's fine. She's right out of the door" There was a moment of silence "Skylynn would go on the top of the world for you, Hans… just don't ask her to" I said locking my gaze with his. Silence once again. Hans swallowed and then looked up to me.

"May I see her?... please?" he asked with a fragile voice. I twisted the doorknob and opened the door poking my head out, to see Skylynn pacing back and forth.

"Skylynn" I called. Her head turned around, her bright grey eyes meeting with mine. I motioned her to come inside with my hand and she immediately obliged "I'll leave you two to talk" I said.

"Thank you, Elsa" she said. I put a reassuring hand on her arm with a small smile, then I glanced back at Hans and left the room, closing the door behind me. Then I turned towards the guards.

"Queen Skylynn is allowed to enter this room whenever she pleases. Tell her once she's done" I said.

"Yes, your Majesty" they answered. I nodded my head and walked away. Now I had to go and thank Anna. It didn't take too long for me to find her, since I had asked her if she could take care of some queenly stuff for me. I found her in my study as she was just standing up from her seat. She saw me and smiled proudly as I stepped into the room, I rushed to her with a wide smile.

"Hey, Elsa! I just finished all the paperwork you gave me and- " she didn't finish her sentence as I took her face in my hands squishing her soft cheeks, making her look like a fish.

"-Anna! Don't say anything and listen to me very carefully" I said smiling widely at her.

"Awe wu okay?" she asked looking at me surprised.

"I just wanted to say: thank you" I said smiling "Thank you for everything, Anna! Thank you for always being there for me, for supporting me and believing in me and never losing faith in me even when I shut you out" I said in a rush "I just wanted to say: thank you for being the best little sister I could ever ask for and that I love you sososo much!" I said quickly as wrapped my arms around her shoulders and planting kisses on her cheek and hugging her tight. Anna hugged me back just as tightly, giggling at my affection outburst, mumbling an 'I love you, too' in my shoulder as I hugged her and kissed her cheek.

"I could get used to these surprise 'cuddle-attacks' from you" Anna said as I stopped smooching her cheek. I laughed and let her go.

"Okay, that's enough" I said with a smile as I theatrically moved my already-in-place bangs back in place "So did you do your homework?" I said smiling. Anna smiled back and showed me her work, but I as listened to her one thought came to my mind: Hans was right. I will eventually have to marry, but who would be willing to marry an ice freak?

 **Hans' POV:**

As Elsa got out of the room and closed the door, Skylynn walked towards me until she was standing beside my bed. I couldn't help but think over Elsa's words and Elsa herself. Once she got inside the room, I thought I was going to talk to the same fearful and insecure girl I had met a month ago, the one that would run away from her problems, that was afraid of her powers and that I easily broke down with just 5 sentences. The one I talked to now was a completely different person… older, wiser… the way she scolded me it made me feel really tiny, close to nothing. What surprised me, though, was the way she quoted my sister's words. Like if it were a lesson she had just learnt herself and made her own. I would have never expected that from Elsa, but she was right about everything. Skylynn has been doing so much for me… and I repaid her with having her almost getting killed because of me… I owe her life to Elsa and now that I looked at Skylynn standing next to me… I couldn't help but feel like… an ungrateful piece of crap.

"Elsa told me what happened" I said finally finding my voice "Are you okay?" I asked.

"Apart from a few stitches on the arm I'm fine" she answered as her grey eyes met my green ones "It could have been much worse if it weren't for Elsa"

"I know" I said turning my head away.

"Hans, do you want to talk to me?" she asked me softly sitting on the edge of the bed. I turned around and finally looked at her, feeling my chest heavier with… guilt.

"I just spoke with Elsa" I said "Well… more like argued" I took a deep breath "Sky, I scared off the servants who came to treat me, I wanted my wounds to get infected… I wanted to end this hell I'm living. I lost everything, Sky, _everything_. I never had a family, as the last in line I would have never counted anything… I wanted to prove my brothers wrong, I wanted to show them that I was worth something, I-… I don't know how I could have thought of something like that I… because of my greed and stupidity, now the Southern Isles hate me, Arendelle hates me, every kingdom hates me. I lost my 'home', I lost my title, I brought shame to the Southern Isles royal family and I lost that little dignity that I had. I only had you, Sky but you have your own life in Drakora now and I can't take that away from you after all you've been through..." I paused "You said I could come to Drakora with you, but you do know that if I do come people will start questioning you"

"I don't care, Hans. The first of Drakora's values is 'family' and those who neglect that value will face a punishment, if not paying with their life, like Hugh. You're my brother and I'm not going to slam my door in your face" she said taking my hand in hers.

"And even if I do come to Drakora" I said "What would I do? Everyone would be uncomfortable with me around, everyone is going to question you. You need to accept the fact that what you did here, in the end will be useless, because I don't have anywhere to go and coming to Drakora, would mean losing your people's trust. You have a life there… I'm not going to take it away from you because I screwed up" I took a deep breath looking away from her.

"Hans" Sky said softly "You know you have the possibility to make amends to your mistakes, what I don't understand is why you're not going to take it"

"Because everything I do, whatever happens to me, I ruin it" I said quietly "What would my brothers say if I actually killed myself? ' _Hans? He committed suicide? He ain't got the intelligence or the courage to do such a thing!_ '"

"Screw them, Hans! They are the ones who got you in this mess in the first place! This is exactly what they want you to think!" she exclaimed

"Even if I don't, once I'm done here with Elsa's punishment, you'll go back to Drakora and I will be a wild dog on the loose again. I know I will end up doing something stupid and hurt people again, and this time you won't be able to save me" I looked away. There was a short silence, then I felt Sky run a hand through my hair.

"You won't if you look at the situation the way I see it" Skylynn said "The punishment Elsa gave you is not a punishment, it's a first step: a medicine… just a medicine" she paused "During the revolution, there was a soldier, a friend of mine, he was a little older than you at the time, his name is Carter. His parents had passed away, and Carter had lost everything he had during an enemy attack: his wife, his son, his brother, his house, everything and he was severely wounded. He wanted to die at first and refused to take his medicines, but then he realized that once the war was over he could start a new life. His family would have wanted that for him. So he finally picked up the medicine he had to take until he healed and was ready to fight again"

"What happened to him, now?" I asked unsure.

"He is remarried now and expecting a child" Sky said. She gave my hand a small squeeze "He did what you should be doing right now. Pick up the medicine, Hans pick it all up and start again. You got a second chance, you could finally find a home and escape your old life. You are still in time to go back to who you really are" she paused and stroke my face "You've got a warm heart and a wonderful mind… don't let our so-called 'siblings' destroy them, because this is what they want: to destroy every bit of good in you" I turned my face on the other side, not looking at her as the weight in my chest got heavier at every word she spoke, tears forming in my eyes… tears I haven't shed in years.

"Hans" Sky continued turning my face to look at her "Pick up the medicine, forget the past and start over. The best part will come once you're done here: you'll know what to do in your new life" I had finally managed to look at Skylynn, her reassuring grey eyes met my green ones, silently telling me that it would have been alright. Elsa was right… about everything… I am a selfish coward… and I don't deserve a sister like Skylynn. I squeezed her hand softly, then before she could see my tears, I pulled her towards me and hugged her tightly, as she hugged me back just as tight.

"I'm sorry, Sky… I'm sorry" I cried, burring my face in her shoulder "I didn't mean it! I never meant any of those aweful that I said to you. I lied. Every single one of those things was a lie. I didn't mean what I said about Landon… I'm so sorry"

"It's okay" Skylynn said running a hand through my hair "I know and I forgive you"

"I love you, Tiger" I mumbled as I silently cried. Skylynn just held me tighter. In that moment I knew that even if I had no idea what to do once I got over this punishment, at the moment, I was going to do what the two queens told me: I was going to start over. As made up my mind though, I couldn't shake Elsa's words out of my head, what I told her, how I was to her and Skylynn; and thinking of them, of Elsa, I couldn't help but feeling even guiltier as remorse was biting my heart.

* * *

 **And there you have it! I really hope it turned out to be touching and not boring, I didn't want to change too much of my work.  
**

 **So, before you all ask, in case I wasn't clear enough, Hans's reason to choose the dark path was becasue he cracked. It was the psychological pressure his brothers and careless father put him under that made him reach the breaking point that made the path of evil look like the quickest and easier way out by being as ruthless as his brothers. Skylynn escaped from that not only becasue she didn't live in the castle but because she had a loving mother and Hans, who did not want to treat his half-sister like his brothers treated him because he knew what it felt like. Basically he tried to shield her as much as he could, but as you have noticed, Skylynn might not be completely good.  
**

 **Anyway, what do you think? Good? Bad? What do you think Elsa is going to do during the meeting with the ministers? Any thoughts on the characters? Is Skylynn more likeable? Have you figured out if she's good or bad? What about Storm? What about Hans?  
**

 **REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW and let me know your thoughts!**

 **See you next Friday! ;-)**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	12. The Meeting

**READ INFO PLEASE!**

 ***kr: symbol for 'crown' (money)- 1$ = 1kr**

 ****gm: symbol for 'gems' (money I made up) 1gm = 1 cent**

* * *

 **Elsa's POV:**

I had just woken up from my afternoon nap… in my study… with my head on my desk. It usually never happens to me to fall asleep while working, but I haven't slept a wink tonight and with all the work I have to do, I just… my need for sleep won in the end. As I sleepily looked around on the desk to check the last things I needed to see, I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in" I said not even bothering to ask who it was. The door opened and Skylynn entered the room.

"Hello, Elsa" she greeted with a bright smile. _Looks like someone is in a good mood…_

"Hey…" I said tiredly.

"Is everything okay?" she asked noticing my sleepy face.

"Yeah, I just…"

"You fell asleep while working" she stated with a smirk.

"No" I looked at her and then she raised an eyebrow "… okay, I did, but I have my good reasons for it!" I said in a little snappy way.

"Geez, looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the desk…" she said and chuckled at her own joke as I impassibly stared back at her "You get it?" she said chuckling "Woke up on the wrong side of the _bed_ , but you slept on the _desk_ so…"

"Very clever, Sky. I'll make sure you get an award for it" I grumpily said. Sky gave me a small theatrical bow with teasing smile.

"You didn't get a wink of sleep because of Hans, have you?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"He told you"

"He just said you argued and I know he can be very… uhm… brutal" I didn't say anything "You should talk to someone about it. Talk to Anna, or Kristoff, or myself if you want" she said. I gave her a tired smile.

"I will, but it's not just that. I've got a big meeting today and I'm kind of nervous. I went through some documents and realized that my ministers are selfish idiots. With this meeting things will have to change. I have everything ready, but one wrong move and I could turn the people against me" I confessed. Skylynn walked towards me and put a hand on my shoulder

"You'll do great, Elsa. I know you will" she said with a warm smile.

"I hope you are right" I said rubbing my eyes.

"Come on, Elsa! Don't worry" Skylynn said rubbing my shoulders reassuringly "You'll do great! You're the queen and if you aren't happy with what your ministers are doing you have to let them know. They need to get the message. Sometimes being untactful and intimidating is the best thing to do. Show them you're angry, make them feel the need to hide under the pavement. Make them worry" she advised. I gave her a small smile.

"How do you know that's not going to backfire?" I asked.

"I may be three years younger than you, but you forget I've got two years of queenly experience more than you do" she said "Listen to me, Elsa. Your choices and words must be based on your people's mentality. For example, Drakora is well known to be a kingdom of warriors. My kingdom has historically been a land of warlords. I know that if I'm too easy going, the people won't trust me and try to put someone else in my place, but if I'm a tyrant, they will fight back. My people have very rigid values and are attached to their custom and tradition, they will accept change, even a radical one, but not if it is too fast because they need some time to accept them. It is only logic that in order to keep the nation in control…" she trailed off.

"I need to balance it out. Got it" I said, finishing her sentence.

"Exactly, you know your people, don't you? What do you think they want in their ruler?" she asked. For a split of a second, my mind went back to some of my parents' teaching on how to be a queen, remembering the few meetings my mother convinced my father to have me assist. Very few actually… to be frank, my queen training has mostly been self-taught. I got the books, studied and then Mrs. Hyles, my tutor, would come test me with my parents supervising. I have assisted on a total of 3 meetings my parents had with foreigner dignitaries, but there was one thing Mama and Papa always wanted for the kingdom.

"Peace. Arendelle has always been peaceful. My people want a ruler who is going to make sure the kingdom lives peacefully, but they also want a ruler who is authoritative when needed, which is what I need to be now" Skylynn nodded with a side smile

"I'm sure the Snow Queen is capable of doing that, considering how you handled the trial, my half-brothers, Hans… Anna told me you've been doing a pretty good job with Weaseltown" she added with a wink "Come on, now. Your ministers aren't doing their job? You're not happy about it? Things need to change? Make sure they get the message and be clear, especially with the party you are supporting" I smiled at her. It was difficult to admit it, but having the Heroine of Drakora giving me advice for a matter such as this and encouraging me, I couldn't help but feel my confidence slowly building up. She was right. I was the queen and I ran business here in Arendelle. If I was not happy with my ministers I had to show them I was not afraid of them, if anything, they had to be afraid of the consequences for not living up to their duty to the kingdom.

"Okay… I've got everything ready. I can do this" I said confidently.

"Good. Now show me your 'angry Snow Queen face'" she said. I turned around to look at her trying to hide a smile and her enthusiastic face fell "My pink bunny flip-flops are much more terrifying…" she commented "Come on! Intimidate me!" she said shaking my shoulders.

"BACK OFF!" I shouted blasting some ice on her sides, careful not to hit her, making Skylynn jump back.

"That's more like it!" she said smiling. I laughed at her "Well, I wanted to ask you something, but I see you're busy, so I'll just ask later" she said walking towards the door

"Thank you, Skylynn" I said.

"Don't mention it" she said

"Sky" I called as an idea popped into my head. She stopped and turned around "May I ask you a few questions about your kingdom?" I asked her. She smiled and walked back to me.

* * *

It was finally time, I had everything ready for the meeting with my ministers. I had the check I asked Kristoff, I had read the documents, I had their cute little letters (note the sarcasm), I overheard their conversation, I had a little talk with Skylynn about Drakora, I found the information I needed about royal marriages and I had brought the people's representatives. Today things were going to change and the aristocrats were heading for a big surprise. As I got into parliament and entered the huge room where the meeting was being held, all the present representatives where both from the people and aristocrats. As I got inside followed by Anna and Kristoff, the room got quiet and everyone settled down. Aristocrats on the right, Commoners and Middle-Class on the left, I sat in my seat, in the middle of the platforms, and Anna sat right next to me with Kristoff standing next her like a bodyguard, waiting for the remaining representatives to come in and settle down. When every single noise died down I spoke up.

"Thank you all for coming to this meeting. I suppose you are curious to know why I had you all summoned here?" I started.

"About that, your Majesty" said one of the noblemen "Why are there… ' _representatives'_ of the lower classes? If I may ask" he said earning a few glares from them, as his disdained tone didn't go by unnoticed.

"Well, they are here because, being them also part of this kingdom, they are needed here for this is a rather important matter we all need to discuss" I said eying the man. He just nodded his head.

"So… to what do we owe this sudden meeting?" asked another aristocrat. I looked towards Anna, who was looking at me expectantly and lightly smirked. I had given her more details, so she knew very well, what I was going to do. Then I got up from my seat and took a few steps between the two parties. Instinctively I would have gone with the talking manner I had learned to use when speaking politics with dignitaries, elegant and refined, using particular words and oratory techniques that were suitable for talks such as this. If I did so, then maybe, the aristocrats might have got the message, but it was the support of both middle and lower class I needed and if I spoke like that, most of them would have not understood. ' _Balance it out_. _Be clear, especially with the party you are supporting'_ Skylynn had said. Then I got an idea, finally deciding how I was going to present the matter: humor, _bitter_ humor. I needed the full attention of the lower classes and the aristocrats.

"I've been thinking" I started "I was in my study a few days ago and I've been thinking… _'Is it Christmas already and I haven't noticed it?'_ Because this week I have receive a few cute little letters just like the ones 7 years-olds send to Santa Clause on December 24th" I paused and eyed the puzzled parties. It working. The aristocrats were surprised and the people were listening.

"Okay, this is serious and she's doing humor, Elsa's angry…" I heard Anna whisper to Kristoff. I hid my smirk and took another few steps forward.

"This 'letter sending' thing, though, started a few years ago and stopped with my parents' passing. Well, last week, after reading a letter sent to 'Santa Clause Queen Elsa', I took the liberty of looking back to my father's old doings and found some _more_ cute little letters. Of all these pretty little letters addressed to 'Santa Clause King Adgar', my father" I continued "there was one that was written by our beloved Honorable Members of Parliament, which now I'm going to read you all what it says" I said glancing at the people "Princess Anna, the letter" I said. Anna stood up from her seat and handed me one of the documents she was holding. I thanked her and she got back to her seat. "Here is what the letter to 'Santa Clause King Adgar' says, it says:

' _HRH_ Santa Clause _King Adgar VI of Arendelle,  
the presidency has humbly requested for its work, to maintain the total sum of the endowment of the time frame of 1609- 1619, in the same amount that has already been deposited in the year 1608-1609'_

And this request I just read has been accepted"I paused and glared at the aristocrats "Cute letter right?" I said towards the commoners and middle-class"Do you know what this means? It means that, unfortunately, King Adgar has approved that while the common Arendellians will be working their guts out to bring some bread home to their families" I started "Our Honorable… _deputies_ , for the next _**six years**_ _…_ will be getting the _same,_ _identical, scandalous_ pay-check they have received until now" I said. There where various reactions from the commoners and middle-class, most of them were glaring at them, others disgusted, but most of them let out indignant comments.

"That's right!" I added "Without any reductions! Without any curtailment!" Then I turned back to the aristocrats "What's the meaning of this, Honorable Members of Parliament? What about the famous 'cuts on the price of politics'? What happened to those?" I said in angry mockery "I remember, three years ago, you've been waving your arms about it like you've all gone berserk! You were having a _race_ at who was talking the biggest whopper: _'We're ready to cut our pay-checks too!' – 'Sacrifices for Arendelle must be done by everyone!'_ Now, let me ask you something, Honorable Members of Parliament…" I paused "… Aren't you all one tiny bit disgusted of yourselves?" From behind me the other party erupted in cheers, clapping their hands for me while the aristocrats looked at me with their eyes out of their sockets. I raised a hand signaling the cheering party to quiet down and they did.

"Queen Elsa" said an aristocrat "For your own sake, I believe it's best if you stop now with this nonsense, since your position isn't exactly much different from ours"

"I think I'll go on with this 'nonsense' since _I_ am the one who runs this kingdom, _I_ am the kingdom. What these people behind me pay as the kingdom's taxes, is _my_ pay-check and that pay-check, called _'State Funds'_ –if that word means anything to you- I use it to make sure things function around here! I- _we_ " I said motioning to the crowd behind me "pay _you_ to assist me in making sure things work and that the state funds don't run out, but it seems to me that that isn't really clear to you" I snapped, before going back to mocking them "I'm just saying, Honorable Members of Parliament, do you have any idea how much we Arendellians give you to sit here and scratch your bellies? Not much, right?" I said mockingly earning glares from the aristocrats and cheering from the people "In average… our Honorable Members of Parliament, between deputies and senators, get between 13,000 and 16,000 kr* a month – in average, of course! No one says otherwise"

"Excuse me, Queen Elsa" said the Marquise that I had overheard the other day "But of those 15,000 kr, there is a sum that is only our pay-check-"

"- of course, which is around 5-6,000 kr" I added sternly. He paled a bit as he received death-glares from the people.

"Yes…" he continued "But there is another sum of 5-6,000 kr which is a sum destined to certain refunds and transports" he said "You _do_ know some of us come far away from the capital"

"Oh?" I mocked "You come from _far away_? Really? Apart from the fact that, to me, if you come from far away, you can _stay_ far away" I said as the people started cheering again for me "But that's personal, so let's leave it at that" I added as the cheering died down "But apart from that, if you come from far away, what do we have to refund you with? The beard shaving? You shave yourselves at home for free. So according to what you agreed on with King Adgar, what do we need to refund you with? Medical expenses? They are all on us. You spend 5-6,000 kr of medical expenses a year _ad personam_. _That's_ how much you spend of medical expenses! How freaking often do you get sick, for crap's sake?!" There was some clapping behind my back from the people, but I ignored it and kept on going.

"You don't need to pay international trips on ships, not even those in carriages" I said "To go around Arendelle you use the Royal Carriages even to go to the theatre, where of course, you sit in your personal reserved seats, being Honorable Members of Parliament. You do realize that, don't you? In Arendelle there are 55,000 Royal Carriages and so there are in Drakora, but our kingdom is almost half made of water and they are twice our size. Seriously, what do we have to refund you with?"

"The house" an aristocrat said

"What do you mean 'the house'?!" I said turning towards him "If you don't buy a house at extremely low prices, they gift you with them" I said turning around towards the people "At least that's what Baron Westley said, that's right he said it. He said: _'My last household was a gift'_ , he said it, indeed" I said and turned around turning my attention towards the Baron who had paled "Baron! Baron Westley, really?" I mocked "You need to tell me, since I'm the one who runs this whole kingdom, you need to tell me _who_ these days gifts you with a household in front of Arendelle's Arena. If that is true that means that they will soon gift you the Arena itself, you liar!" There was another round of applause for me from the people, but I motioned them to quiet down with my hand. The aristocrats were glaring daggers at both me and the people. It worked. I had their full attention.

"So" I continued as the people quieted down " _What_ 'refunds'?"

"Excuse me, Queen Elsa" said another aristocrat "But in that sum of those 15,000 kr, there are 4,000 kr of daily allowance. I mean- we _are_ allowed to go grab a bite between a bill and another, aren't we?" he arrogantly said mocking me.

"Oh, to _go grab a bite_? Apart from the fact that if _we_ ate like _you_ , Arendelle would have been out of food reserves for a few years by now, but, okay, perfect. Since we're on the topic, let's see how much you pay to eat in parliament. Princess Anna, the check" I asked. Anna stood up walking towards me and handed me the check, while I gave her the letter back, then she went to sit back down. I turned around towards the people, who were looking at me expectantly.

"This piece of paper, that my sister just gave me, is this week's check of the parliament's dining hall, that our Ice Master and Deliverer kindly provided me with" I paused, my back facing Anna and Kristoff "Here is the list: fish… _stewed_ fish –between parenthesis 'ocean fish', of course, it has to be ocean fish and not from fish livestock, they fished directly in the kitchen- with asparagus: 87 gm**…" I read. Pause. I looked at the indignant people " _87 gems!_ 87 gm for stewed fish with asparagus, it's not even 1 kr! 87 gm is the price of… the hot water for the fish! The boiling water on its own costs more!" There were some chuckles from the commoners and middle-class and they clapped their hands, but evidently Anna motioned them to quiet down, before I did, so I went on reading.

"One pineapple: 43 gems… but it must be just the rind, because if the pulp is there it costs more!" I said as there was some more clapping that immediately died down as I motioned them to be quiet "One _'Granny's cake'_ : 67 gm. But come on! This poor granny makes and sells apple pies to add something to her savings, and you pay a piece of cake only 67 gm?" I said and went on reading "A spinach salad with parmesan: 1,75 kr. Sliced beef with stewed radicchio: 3,41 kr. Isn't that a bit too much?" I mocked, with a small sardonic laugh "1 drink:… 37 gm -what is it to cost 37-? Sewer water! Because I know that the price is usually 2 kr per water container. You need to tell me what is it that you really drink!" the people started applauding once again, but I silenced them again to finish

"So" I went on "Total sum for the meal: 7,50 kr; service sum: 3,91 kr. Because obviously, for the service, you've got the perfect shiny looking waiter, whose service costs more than the salad, the drink and 'Granny's cake' all together. Anyway, total sum 11,41 kr" I said folding the check. "Now" I continued "I made a few calculations, and you" I said turning towards the aristocrats "in order to spend 4,000 crowns of daily allowance a month, you should eat 12 times a day for 30 days. What kind of stomachs do you have? Have you got the Duke of Weselton as a liver?! But it's not over yet!" I said as the people clapped for me. "No, it's not over!" I said as Anna walked to me and gave me another paper "Princess Anna could you do the honors and please read this letter our Honorable Members of Parliament sent to Santa Clause Queen Elsa?" I asked her as she opened the paper she was about to give me.

"Okay…" she said clearing her voice "This is one of the 'cute little letters' my sister was talking about earlier, and it says:

' _HRH Queen Elsa I of Arendelle,  
according you your father's latest decision we wanted to inform you that to the ever present in commission, an incentive will also be expected. These will be the measurements discussed in parliament' _"

"Thank you, Princess Anna" I said "Now, do you know what that means?" Anna looked at me, then at the two parties.

"I have an idea, but I'm not sure" she said

"Yes, it is what you're thinking. Go sit down, I'll explain" I told her "It means…" I continued "It means that the ministers who work and don't play absentee are to receive a prize… - For Heaven's sake!- Apart from the 16,000 crowns that _I_ " I said motioning to myself and the other party "That I need to give you to work… I'm also supposed to give you an _incentive_ for you to do your job?! Excuse me, dear Senators/Parliamentarians/Honorable/Whatever-You-Want, let me get this straight: when I go to town in the Royal Carriage, I have to give the charioteer 50 kr to take me back to the palace, but if he _really_ takes me back I have to give him another 20kr? What are we talking about here?!" other clapping from the commoners and middle-class "Well, Honorable Members of Parliament you are really… you are quite singular!" I mocked with a smirk as the applause quieted down "Honorable Members of Parliament …- by the way- 'Honorable' is just a formality, no offence, because some of you might get offended and say _'Who are you calling 'Honorable'? I'm not honorable at all, I'm deeply wicked'_ . No, let's call you Honorable" I said as I heard a 'Brava!' being shouted from the cheering commoners and middle-class.

"Honorable Members of Parliament!" I said raising my voice to make the cheering stop "Honorable Members of Parliament, once a great statesman, _deceased_ , unfortunately, Sir Harold Brenner"

"No!" I heard Anna whisper not so softly from behind me, cutting me off and then I heard other whisperings.

"He's not a deceased?" I asked… _oops_ … more whispering and as I looked at the aristocrats and noticed one of them "You're not even a statesman? So it's just 'unfortunately'? Okay. _Unfortunately,_ the hereby present Sir Harold Brenner once said: _'I don't know if we are paid too much for what we do, certainly we aren't paid enough for what we deserve'_ " I chuckled with no humor "You're joking, right?" I said but wasn't over as I motioned the other party not to cheer "Gentlemen" I said looking towards the aristocrats "I just wanted to tell you that we Arendellians have grown up, we do not believe in Santa Clause anymore and we are tired of having fun at your Mardi Gras, because if things don't start changing now we will all end up in a long sad Lent, waiting for Resurrection. Listen to me very carefully: if you Honorable Members of Parliament don't stop scratching your bellies and start seriously help me give my people this resurrection, I will give it to them on my own. Let this be clear: _on my own_ , because that is not all I know. I am aware that most of you don't believe a queen alone can rule, well, I'm here to prove you wrong. There is an article in our laws written in 1268 under the rule of King Gunther VII: it says that the crown can be passed onto female heirs, adding that said heir isn't required to marry in order to keep her crown and lead the kingdom. In fact, who was next in line? His daughter Queen Iris II." I paused "Queen Iris II never married and when she died the crown passed down to her niece, yet her reign is known to be one of the most glorious periods of our history, and she did not need a man by her side. Now I challenge you all to say the contrary" I said. No one dared to speak.

"I am not Queen Iris II… I am Queen Elsa, first of my name. My reign has just started, I don't know if I'll match up to Queen Iris, but you can be sure that like my ancestor before me in order to bring our country in a state of prosperity, one that because of my father and grandfather is slowly going down, I will do whatever is in my power with my own strength and commitment to my people and my country. If I am ever to marry, when, with whom and why it will be _my_ choice and mine alone, no one else's" I paused looking around "Members of Parliament, you are now either to finally do your job and assist me, or I will help my people on my own and you will all finally buzz off! And _without_ the Royal Carriages" I added as the people cheered behind me and the aristocrats looked like they were about to disappear beneath the pavement. I thanked the cheering party for the support, but then motioned them to quiet down, noticing Anna and Kristoff looking at me proudly. I smiled at them and turned back to the aristocrats as soon as they called me.

"Your Majesty" said the Count I had overheard as the cheering stopped "Where do you intend to start these changes?" he asked reluctantly like a beaten puppy.

"First of all, you will _ALL_ have a cut on that insane paycheck of yours" I announced "According to the position you have in parliament and your function in here, your paychecks will now go from 1,500 kr to 3,500 kr max. a month" I started "Then, this commission is now revoked and a new one will be elected by next week. As soon as a new commission of parliamentarians is elected, we will take care of the taxes and tariffs and laws. The elections will be just like the official ones and for each district will be elected 3 representatives, one from each social class without any kind of difference. Both men and women can be elected and will be able to vote…" For the rest of the meeting sll of the aristocrats had the decency of shutting up as I took away every undeserved privilege my father had gifted them with, and listening defeated till the end of the assembly.

* * *

"You were awesome!" Anna said as she entered my study. I didn't even have the time to get up that she had already tackled me into a tight bear-hug, basically sitting on my lap "You showed them what happens when you make the queen angry! You were really great in there. I wouldn't have done it even if I tried!" she said chocking me as she hugged me.

"Anna… air!" I said

"Oops! Sorry" she said letting me go.

"It's okay. Thanks Anna" I said smiling at her "Oh- hey, Kristoff!" I greeted as I saw him behind Anna's shoulder, leaning with his arms on my desk.

"I never thought I would say it, but: Queen Elsa I of Arendelle, you were _sensational_ " he said with a smile.

"Thank you, Ice Master Kristoff Bjorman" I said with a smirk.

"You really did show them. They better think twice before trying something" he said "I accompanied the lower classes representatives, and…"

"And…?" Anna and I asked in unison as Anna's grip tightened around my shoulders.

"They all support you. They couldn't wait to go back home and tell their families about it" he said "You did it, Elsa" he said smiling at me. My smile couldn't get any wider. In that moment someone knocked at the door.

"Who is it?" I asked

"Elsa? It's Skylynn" she said form outside.

"Just a second" I called back "Anna, could you please get off?" I asked my sister pushing her off of my lap.

"But you're comfy!" Anna complained not even bothering to move half an inch. I just gave her a look "Okay, fine" she playfully huffed getting off of me. Kristoff chuckled and took Anna's hand as she stood next to him.

"Thank you" I told my sister "Come in" I said and Skylynn opened the door. Her silver eyes shone brightly and she smiled at us as she got inside the room. She was about to greet us when Anna preceded her.

"Hi, Sky" she greeted cheerfully

"Hey, Anna" she greeted back "Elsa, Kristoff"

"Skylynn" Kristoff greeted with a small bow.

"I hope I'm not disturbing you, I could come back later" she said looking at me.

"No, don't worry, you're not disturbing at all" I said as she stepped closer to us "So, Skylynn. How can I help you?" I asked her. Anna looked at me weirdly at the friendly tone I used.

"I just wanted to ask you if there was something I could do during my stay? Like: can I make myself useful somehow?" she asked. I looked at her kind of surprised. I looked towards Anna and Kristoff who looked at me like if they were saying ' _Don't look at us'_ .

"Why do you ask?" I asked her "It's not like you're here on vacation, I thought you already did kind of had a job here"

"Yeah, well… it's not like trying to knock some sense into Hans is a full day activity" she answered "Plus, I'm bored. I need to do something. I need to make myself useful" she said.

"Uhm… I don't know Sky…" I said not really trusting her completely. Yes, she might have helped a bit, but I didn't trust her yet.

"Please? I need to keep my mind occupied with something! If I don't do anything for too long I get grumpy and, since the soldier training area is off-limits, especially to me, training alone in the gardens gets boring. Please, Elsa? My brain is need of something to do or I might go insane"

"Have you ever tried Sudoku?" I asked her hiding a smile as Anna ad Kristoff stifled a laugh.

"I tried it once" she answered "I suck at it" she added, we chuckled.

"Are you a dancer?" Anna suddenly asked. Even Kristoff seemed surprised " 'Cause Kristoff and I are looking for performers for our wedding"

"I'm not really a dancer" she answered.

"A singer?" Anna insisted

"Well, Hans taught me how to play the lute" said Sky "… and the piano" she thought about it "… and the flute… and the violin" she added.

"Anything else?" I said jokingly

"I compose" she added with a shy smile.

"You're a musician! That's great!" Anna said cheerfully

"Yep, impressive" Kristoff commented.

"Thank you, but seriously, now. I don't want be a burden and I know that I already caused you enough trouble and I would like to do something to help you around while I stay"

"You could teach me how to play the violin!" Anna said excitedly.

"NO!" Kristoff and I shouted panicked, making her jump.

"Lute?" Anna shyly asked looking back and forth between Kristoff and I.

"That's better" I said and turned back to Sky, who was hiding back a smile. _'Anna' + 'violin'? Not a good match._

"Anyway, if there is anything I can do to help you around, just tell me. I also wanted you to know that, while I'm here, my sword is at your service" she said looking at me straight in the eyes.

"I'll think about it" I said, caught a little surprised.

"And there's another reason why I came here" she said "I know that since I got here I've been more of a rival to you than a ally even though we signed an alliance. I want you and your sister to know that I'm not a threat to you and have no interest in your crown" As she spoke, I had stood up from my seat and walked in front of her "The point is I wanted to formally apologize for the trouble I've caused you"

"Apology accepted" I said.

"Truce?" Skylynn said offering me her hand. I looked at her hand, then at her.

"Truce" I said and shook her hand

"But don't think the mind games and the challenging will stop" she said gripping on my hand a little harder.

"I'm not expecting them to" I answered tightening my grip as well

"I thought you hated mind games"

"That's why I'm not expecting you to stop them" we let go of each other's hand with a smile "And before I forget. Guards!" I called and four armed men came inside the room.

"You called, your Majesty?" said one of the four men.

"Until her stay in Arendelle is over, the four of you will be under Queen Skylynn's command. Whatever she says you do, no questions asked"

"Yes, your Majesty!" the four men said and turned to Skylynn.

"Queen Elsa, there's no need for guards. I can hold my own" she complained.

"I know and have no doubt about it, but a third regicide attempt is the last thing I want. Better safe than sorry, right?" Sky glared at me and motioned the guards to go outside, mocking me under her breath. I rolled my eyes shaking my head. Then Skylynn thanked me, excused herself and walked back to the door, but before she went out of the door, she looked back at Anna.

"Is 3 p.m. in the music room good for our lute lessons?" she asked her. Anna's eyes beamed with excitement

"Yes, of course! That'd be awesome!" she answered brightly.

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow, then"

"Of course!" Skylynn gave us a smile, a nod of the head and left. I stood there for a moment, while Anna was squealing in excitement holding Kristoff's hands and jumping up and down, ranting about something.

"Isn't it awesome, Elsa?! I'm getting lute lessons from my idol!" she asked me gleaming with excitement.

"Hm?" was my smart answer

"What is it?" she said looking at me in the eyes "And don't tell me it is something bothering you, because this conversation didn't seem very suspicious to me"

"I agree" said Kristoff.

"No!" I said immediately "It's just… did I just make friends with Queen Skylynn, the heroine of Drakora, who is none other than our attempted murderer's sister?" I asked.

"You make becoming friends with the _Heroine of Drakora_ sound like something terrible" Kristoff commented.

"Is it, though?" I asked

"Nah…" Anna said "I think this is going to be interesting"

"Interesting?" I repeated raising an eyebrow

"Well, I wouldn't say you two are friends. Let's say this means you two are not going to fight like cats and dogs anymore" Anna said

"I will have to agree with Feisty-Pants over here" Kristoff added. Well, they are probably right. Maybe Skylynn and I aren't exactly friends, but this could be the start of an interesting acquaintance.

* * *

 **Hans' POV:**

Two weeks passed since I was transferred to this guest room to heal my back wounds. I started going to work with the ice harvesters last week. The doctor said that putting me back in the dungeons would be dangerous because the wounds could still get infected, so the queen decided it would have been better to leave me in the guest room, guarded 24/7, until I was fully healed. I haven't seen Elsa since our last conversation. Actually, the only times I have seen her it was through the door while she talked to the doctor, then she would leave and the doctor would get completely out of the door and close it. She would occasionally glance at me from the distance, but looked away immediately every time she would check on me and see I was looking at her, studying her. Skylynn would come visit me every day before going to sleep and ask me how I was and how was it going in the mountains. To tell you the truth, Kristoff was going easy on me… just because Elsa reported him what the doctor told her. I know that once I'm fully healed he is going to be hard on me with the job. Skylynn also told me she was giving Anna lute lessons and that she was kind of good at it. She also told me how panicked Elsa looked when Anna asked first for violin lessons and I couldn't help but laugh. It felt weird and… good to have a genuine laugh after so long.

"I can imagine the scene. 'Anna' + 'violin'? Not a good match" I said sitting down on my bed next to Skylynn who had already made herself comfortable lying on it.

"But she's quite good with the lute. She says that this way she'll be able to play something with Kristoff since he plays the lute already" Sky said smiling "Speaking of Kristoff-"

"-He's going easy on me, Sky. Don't worry" I said reassuring her "The doctor said to pass on the hard labor only when I'm fully recovered"

"Is the food good?" Skylynn asked.

"Just like eating again is good" I said. Really, it was good to finally eat regularly and healthy food "Have I gained a few pounds?" I asked.

"Not yet" Sky said with a smile "But that's good to hear and it's good to see you finally cut those awful sideburns"

"I didn't want them to, but they shaved me completely" I said "How do I look?" I asked.

"Much better… I hated those sideburns" she answered.

"I should have known… you kind of made it quite clear to me when I first grew them"

"What can I say? To me, you either grow a full beard, preferably stubble like, or you don't grow a beard at all"

"Good thing I didn't grow a mustache" I commented

"I would have disowned you as a brother if you did" she said and we laughed. Every night Skylynn would come see me it would go like this: we would talk about random things. We would laugh together again, talking about stuff. Those couple of hours before going to sleep were our brother-sister bonding time. But Skylynn didn't come just for bonding. I knew why she was doing this, she wanted me to keep my mind off of things and wanted to check on me. I wanted her to keep her mind off things too, plus… I had missed her in these past two years and I wanted to catch up with her. I didn't ask her how Landon died though. Not yet, at least. I didn't even ask her about Storm and that was one of the last things I needed to do. I knew too well what happened between those two. Anyway, we were catching up, talking like nothing I did ever happened. Elsa was right… I didn't deserve a sister like her. Anyway, although we talked a lot, Skylynn usually would ask me some things about myself, things that I wouldn't answer her, because I knew what she was doing. She was psychoanalyzing me, she was trying to get into my mind to figure out what I was really thinking. She was doing that to see if I was acting, playing the 'good recovering patient' part only to go throw myself off a cliff once I was fine. Although I wouldn't do that, at least not after what Elsa told me. Skylynn knew that I had realized the true purpose of some of her questions and that I was avoiding to answer her. It was a Master vs Scholar battle. Sky and I were connecting again, but there was still something off, like a thin line still keeping us apart. It had been during one of those nights when that realization dawned on me. It was the night I asked her about Landon. That question was supposed to break that thin line, but it only made it turn into a wall.

"Sky, if you don't mind me asking. What happened to Landon?" I asked her. Skylynn's bright silver eyes darkened as she looked down.

"It happened during a trip to Shergan" she started "We were going to meet its King to talk about trading matters. Landon and I had long talked about this and everything was ready. I was supposed to be there mainly for support and presence. Angel came with us as well and her fiancée was Drakora's regent while we were gone. It was supposed to be a peaceful trip, but it didn't turn out to be like that…"

* * *

 **(A/N: Bold:** Drakorian **,** _Italics_ **:** English **)**

 _ **Skylynn's Flashback...  
**_

 _We were in a carriage, enjoying the view. Angel, Landon and I were conversing lightheartedly, although I was about to fall asleep leaning against my husband's shoulder. We were about to cross the border when the carriage suddenly stopped._

" _ **Why did we stop?**_ _" Angel asked in Drakorian, looking outside the window._

" _ **I don't know**_ _" Landon replied. Suddenly we heard a yelp of pain and shouting from the soldiers following the carriage._

" _ **IT'S AN AMBUSH!**_ _" a soldier shouted in Drakorian._

" _ **PROTECT THE CARRIAGE!"- "THE KING!" – "DEFEND THE QUEEN!"- "PROTECT THE PRINCESS!**_ _" shouted other soldiers as the sound of swords clanking against each other filled the air._

" _ **Skylynn, Angel, stay in here**_ _" Landon said and got out of the carriage taking out his sword._

" _ **No! Landon! Wait!**_ _" shouted Angel._

" _ **The hell I'm staying in here!**_ _" I said getting out of the carriage unsheathing my sword._

" _ **Skylynn, stop! Don't!**_ _" she yelled._

" _ **Whatever happens stay in here, Angel**_ _" I said and immediately joined Landon and the soldiers in the fight. Bandits on the frontier had attacked the carriage probably hoping to find something to steal. These guys were tough, Landon and I fought with the few soldiers alive. Until one of the bandits got closer to the carriage and opened it. I heard Angel scream my name as the bandit forcefully pulled her out of the carriage. Angel tried to fight back, and for a moment she managed to slide the bandit's dagger out of his sheath and tried to hit him. But unlike with a sword, Angel wasn't a knife expert. The bandit blocked the hit, easily disarmed her and pushed her to the ground. Angel wasn't a damsel in distress, but she stayed on the ground, not moving away. It could only have meant that falling she had hit her head hard. The bandit, dint' waste any time as he raised his sword to kill her with a final blow._

" _ **ANGEL!**_ _" I heard Landon yell as he tried to run to his sister, but was blocked by two men. I swiftly got rid of the bandit I was facing and before the outlaw could strike her, blocked the hit and killed the bandit who was about to murder Angel. The man fell dead on the ground in a pool of blood. I immediately turned to Angel. She had indeed hit her head on the hard carriage wheel. I called her name and snapped my fingers in front of her as her confused eyes finally set on me, focusing. I was relieved in hearing her say that although her head hurt, she was okay, when I asked her how she was feeling. The moment I was about to help her up though, her eyes froze in terror._

" _Skylynn, behind you!" Angel shouted. I turned around and my relief turned into horror. A bandit had sneaked behind me and would have killed me, if Landon hadn't put himself between me and the sword. The blade pierced right through him. As the killer drew back his sword from his body, Angel grabbed Landon as he fell on the ground while I, blinded by rage ,jumped up and attacked the man slashing right through him and the next two who came at me. With those three dead as well, the others retreated in fear. I put my sword back and immediately ran back to Landon who was laying on the ground in a pool of blood, while his sister held him. In a moment I was at his side and looked at the wound._

" _We need to stop the blood! Someone get some rags! Help me put him in the carriage!" I shouted desperately. The men that were still alive sprang into action only to be stopped by Landon's hoarse voice._

" _No, Sky…" he said_

" _I'm not letting you die!" I said firmly with tears threatening to fall down._

" _Sky… I'm not going to make it" he said weakly_

" _I didn't have you to survive the revolution only to die on us now, Landon!" said Angel with her voice strong but tears streaming down her face._

" _ **What are you waiting for?! Get the rags**_ _!" I shouted in Drakorian._

" _Skylynn" Landon called cupping my cheek with his hand "This is a battle you can't win… and you know it" I looked down hiding my watery eyes to the soldiers who were looking at us. Landon then spoke in Drakorian to the both of us. He wanted the soldiers to hear his last words clearly. "_ _ **Angel**_ _" he started looking at his sister as she held his hand tightly "_ _ **You've always been my right hand… now, I need you to be Skylynn's**_ _"_

" _ **I will, I promise**_ _" Angel said_

" _ **I was looking forward to walk you down the aisle**_ _" he said weakly but smiled at his little sister "_ _ **I love you, Angie**_ _" Angel couldn't say anything but manage to sob out a quiet 'I love you, too' holding his hand tightly. Then he turned to me. "_ _ **Skylynn**_ _" he said caressing my cheek "_ _ **You're the only ruler Drakora has now, you're its queen… and our kingdom couldn't ask for a better leader**_ _"_

" _ **I can't do this, Landon. I'm not a real queen**_ _" I answered in Drakorian_

" _ **Yes, you are... you are stronger than you think… you're ready for this…**_ _" he coughed "_ _ **You are a natural leader, Sky, you've got the heart of a queen… and the soul of a warrior... our kingdom needs**_ _ **you**_ _ **, our people needs**_ _ **you**_ _" he coughed again "_ _ **Sky, I love you... I've never loved anyone the way I love you… and knowing that you are my wife, that you chose me, is more than enough… I can die happy**_ _" he coughed again "_ _ **But Drakora needs an heir and-**_ _"_

" _ **Landon, no. I can't**_ _-"_

" _-_ _ **Wait, let me finish**_ _" he said weakly "_ _ **Drakora needs an heir, but what I'm going to ask you now… it's not for the kingdom…**_ _" he paused coughing again "_ _ **You are young and beautiful, Sky… so… move on from me**_ _"_

" _ **No. I can't forget you**_ _" I said running my fingers through his blonde hair._

" _ **I'm not asking you to forget me… I'm asking you to be happy**_ _" he coughed again "_ _ **We said**_ _ **'**_ _ **til death do us part'**_ _ **… I'm dying, Sky… but you… live on your life, find someone, allow yourself to fall in love again, remarry, have kids… don't do this for the kingdom, do it for yourself**_ _" he stroke my cheek "_ _ **Let me go… move on… promise me you will**_ _" I shook my head "_ _ **Promise me**_ _" he said forcing me to look at him in the eyes "_ _ **Promise me**_ _" he repeated as I grabbed the hand he had on my face._

" _ **I promise**_ _" I said as I felt a tear fall down my cheek._

" _ **I'm proud of you, Sky. You are going to be the greatest queen Drakora has ever had**_ _" he paused inhaling with difficulty "_ _ **I love you**_ _"_

" _ **I love you too**_ _" I said and kissed him one last time before he closed his eyes and exhaled his last breath. Angel started calling his name shaking him as she cried over her brother. It dawned on me what I had and was expected to do now. I was fully in charge of a kingdom, the kingdom of Drakora, the kingdom of warlords, a kingdom where leaders and warriors can't show weakness. The queen of Drakora can't show weakness, Drakora needs a strong leader, a leader with an iron fist in a velvet glove and that's what I'm going to be. I forced down the tears that wanted to fall out in rivers and pulled Angel to me hugging her tight to comfort her as she cried in my shoulder, clenching at my jacket like her life depended on it._

" _ **The King is dead**_ _" declared one of the soldiers._

" _ **Your Majesty**_ _" said one of the soldiers walking next to me "_ _ **What do we need to do?**_ _" he asked. Quietly, I stood up, pulling Angel up with me._

" _ **We need pyres. We need a pyre for King Landon and today's fallen ones**_ _" I said then I saw another warrior "_ _ **Soldier, get back on your horse and tell the King of Shergan we what happened and that we'll be there tomorrow**_ _"_

" _ **Yes, your Majesty!**_ _" said the soldier and did as ordered. A little while later, we were all looking at the burning pyres sailing further away in the lake, they were all burning except for one: Landon's. As the pyre sailed away, I grabbed the bow Angel offered me with silent tears, set the tip of an arrow on fire, aimed and shot the first arrow to the King's pyre, Angel went second and her arrow was soon followed by the others shot by the soldiers._

" _ **King Landon III of Drakora, God bless his soul**_ _" said our lieutenant and the soldiers repeated. I stood there silently, I let only one tear go down my cheek, but my heart was in pieces… I felt… empty. I felt devastated… it felt like someone had kicked me in the gut, ripping my heart out of my chest, but I also felt in complete numbness. The wedding ring on my left ring finger felt terribly heavy and scorching hot. As I looked at Landon's flaming pyre sailing further away in the lake, Angel walked next to me and slipped her hand in mine._

" _You're not going to be only in charge of the army anymore. You'll have to take over Landon's royal duties as well" she said in her thick Drakorian accent._ **(A/N: Greek accent)** _  
_

" _I know" There was a moment of silence_

" _You're ready for this, Sky" she said "Landon believed in you and so do I" I turned around to look at her. Her blue eyes red and puffy from crying._

" _Thank you" Angel gave my hand a small squeeze and we turned around to face the few soldiers, then she spoke in Drakorian "_ _ **Drakorians! You have your one and true Queen!**_ _" she declared raising my hand in the air._

" _ **Queen Skylynn I of Drakora!**_ _" they shouted "_ _ **Long live the Queen! Long live the Queen! Long live the Queen!**_ _"_

 ** _End Skylynn's Flashback..._**

* * *

 **Hans' POV:**

As Skylynn ended her tale, I could see her eyes were watery, but she hadn't shed a tear. I pulled her into a tight hug as I felt silent tears soaking my shirt. But soon after, she pulled back drying the tears from her eyes.

"I'm okay…" she said "It's the first time I actually tell the story to someone. There was no need to do so in Drakora"

"Do you feel better?" I asked her.

"If I had told you a year ago, I would probably be crying my eyes out right now so… yeah… I feel better" she said "Angel was actually my shoulder to cry on when I finally let it all out"

"What do you mean 'finally'?" I asked surprised "You couldn't mourn your husband once you were alone?!"

"No, it's not that" she said "What you just said kind of makes me think of the conversation I had with Angel before my breakdown. We were alone in my chambers, a month after Landon's death, and Angel told me that she couldn't help but notice something"

"You never cried" I said and she nodded

"She didn't mean it like ' _you didn't cry because you didn't love him'_ , she meant that I couldn't hold everything inside and that I had to let go sooner or later"

"How did you do it for a month?" Skylynn sighed.

"I don't really know" she said "All I know is that I felt more than I could and was allowed to express… I was heartbroken… part of me still is. Landon was my first love, Hans and when I married him, it meant that I wanted him to be my last… But as queen I have the duty to be an example to my people and that means I can't show weakness to them. No matter what or how I feel, I need to be strong for my people. Drakora says _'family comes first'_ but it looks like this works for everyone except for the monarch. I lead a country where I don't have the luxury to be as merciful as Elsa, to be… myself, like her. Iron fist and velvet glove, that's how I need to rule and what my people want in a ruler. As queen I also need to represent my kingdom and if I show weakness, others will think that Drakora is weak and that's an insult to every Drakorian. What makes the pressure from the outside worse is my age and my situation as a bastard, heroine or not. My people have certain expectations from me and I can't let them down" Skylynn explained. She took a deep breath and spoke up again "Anyway, Angel said that when I would want to let it all out she would have been there and be my shoulder to cry on since I had been hers and now it was her turn… then I broke down… but I felt so much better afterwards… the day after, I took off the wedding ring… and wore it as a necklace ever since, hanging right next to yours" she said, briefly taking her wedding ring out of her shirt so that I could see it, then she put it back in place. I didn't say anything, I just hugged her again. We didn't say much afterwards.

That night it had seriously dawned on me: my baby sister wasn't a kid anymore. I already knew that Skylynn was already mature for her age, but that night I really had realized that Skylynn was a grown woman, brave, smart and independent. It fell on me like a ton of bricks that even if I was her mentor, her big brother, the one she would usually look up to for support, Skylynn didn't need me anymore. I'm the elder sibling not her and look at the situation! Who is the one who is more likely to be cooped up in death road? She is, the younger sibling. Who is the one who is supposed to save his sibling's butt from death road? I am, the eldest. Who is the one who is supposed to put his neck on the line for his sibling? The eldest, I am. Who is the one who is supposed to knock some sense into his suicidal sibling? The eldest, which is me. Who is the one who should be comforting his sibling? Me, the eldest. This is the way the situation should be, not the other way around!  
I couldn't help but think of the mess I did here and what she did in Drakora. Skylynn and I did the same thing, but I screwed up and she didn't. What made me feel worse was that _I_ gave her the instruments to reach her glory and _I_ wasn't able to use them. She didn't even want to be queen! Landon had to propose to her _twice_ before she accepted to marry him. But once he died, Skylynn worked her ass off and is fulfilling her duty as queen. Ever since I've known her, as time passed by, Skylynn was getting stronger and changing every day and now she is where she is because she never gave up… Elsa was right once again. When she said those things to me, Elsa had known my sister for barely two weeks and she knew more about her than I did in 14 years… and this scared me. The thin line that separated us and that I wanted to break, had just gotten thicker. Thick like a wall dividing a fortress from invaders.

* * *

 **And there you have it! Another chapter, this is more of a fill-in chapter that will have consequences, though... which you will have to unfortuantelly wait...  
Anyway, how was it? Did you like it? How do you think Elsa did during the meeting? What do you think about her method to get everyone's full attention? Personally, I know it is a little surreal, but I think satire is a good method at times and I wanted to make this chapter a littl emore enjoyable, rather than a boring political chapter. What about Elsa's truce with Skylynn? Will they make friends or will they become enemies?**  
 **Now you also had a taste of Skylynn's past: you saw the day she lost her husband. What do you think about it? I hope I managed to make it touching and sad and not boring. Your opinions on Hans's thoughts?** **Let me know with a REVIEW!**

 **IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE!**

 **Due to University stuff, I probably won't be able to update for the next 2 weeks. I have about 6 exams coming up between May and June and since University in Italy is disorganized, I know I have two exams the next two weeks and have no idea when the others will be. I do have most of the story written down, but proofreading it takes me time, especially since the chapterrs are long.  
Sorry for the incovenience.**

 **I'll see you in 2 weeks with the next chapter!  
**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	13. Breaking Point

**Hi guys! I know, I am a terrible person! I know I said 2 weeks off, but one of my professors changed the one of my exam dates about three times... Anyway, now I'm back... for now... I warn you that I'll have to take a few weeks off in the future due to other exams, but hopefully there won't be any delays.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Hans' POV:**

It was dawn and I was already being escorted by two guards to the sled where the blonde gorilla, Kristoff, was waiting for me, it was an ordinary day by now. After my time in the Southern Isles mines, I was used to wake up before dawn and head to work. Unlike the ice-harvesters, miners didn't need to wake up that early, but my brothers were nice enough to point out that unlike the other miners, who were honest men trying to work for a living, I was a treacherous convict who did not deserve any mercy. That meant that if at dawn it was possible to start working, the other inmates and I had to make ourselves useful at least to the miners and start working before their arrival. As for the job itself, ice-harvesting is hard work but at least it is not as dirty as mining and you get to work out in the open, rather than dusty caves.  
Of course, I was permanently shackled. The only moment in which my hands were free was while working as I had at least twenty eyes pointed at me. Not to mention that my shackles were exactly like the ones I had Elsa's hands put in. When I got to the sled, the guards gave Kristoff my shackle keys and helped me on the sled. As I was about to sit down next to the big guy, Kristoff stopped me.

"No, no. You sit in the back today" he said

"Why?" I asked eyeing him suspicious.

"Kristoff! I'm here! Wait up!" Anna's voice said as she appeared from the palace doors in her winter attire.

"There's your answer" Kristoff said and took a few steps towards her.

"She's coming with us?" I asked surprised to see the princess.

"She wants to see how we work and since she's _my_ fiancée, I don't see why she can't come with me" Kristoff said eyeing me as if underlining the fact that Anna was engaged to him.

"Sorry, I couldn't find my boots and I didn't want to wake up Elsa" Anna said hugging him as she got to us "So, are we going?" then she saw me and her cheerful face fell "Please don't tell me he's riding with us"

"Sorry, Queen's orders" Kristoff said.

"At least put the work tools on the front" Anna said "I wouldn't want to come back with an axe in my neck" she said glaring intensely at me.

"Tempting, really. But as you can see" I said holding my shackled hands up "My hands are shackled" I paused and smirked at her "Too bad Elsa isn't coming with us, I wonder if she remembers these shackles"

"Okay, that's enough! Let's go" Kristoff thundered before Anna could snap something back and grabbed me from the collar of the wool coat, just like his, pulled me off the sled and helped me up in the back as Anna took my previous seat. While we were going up in the mountains, Anna wouldn't stop glancing back at me every five seconds. There was much more tension in the air than there usually was. When it was just Kristoff and I, the big guy would just glance at me every now and then and not say a thing. Anna looked like she was about to throttle me if I just dared to open my mouth to say the wrong thing, which was basically everything, but having her glance at me every two seconds and glaring was seriously getting on my nerves.

"Will you stop that?" I snapped when I couldn't take it anymore "Stop looking at me every two seconds, it's annoying"

"Well, excuse me. I'm not the attempted murderer who is sitting two inches away from ice cutting tools" she snapped back.

"Oh, and I thought you were just checking me out"

"For your information, I'm engaged and Kristoff over here is a thousand times better than you" she snapped back

"Funny, coming from the reckless fool who wanted to marry a stranger" I challenged "But back to the topic, stop looking at me. First of all, it's annoying. Second, let me remind you I'm shackled. I'm harmless"

"Funny, coming from the one who was about to chop my sister's head off with a sword"

"Guys" Kristoff said trying to get in between.

"Considering I had ordered an execution for her without a problem I don't think she would have been missed much" I snapped. Anna glared at me intensely.

"At least she would have been missed by more than just one person unlike you" she snapped. I tensed up and glared back

"Anna, it's not worth it" Kristoff said

"And if she were in your shoes, Elsa would be doing anything in her power to make up for her mistakes, as well as being extremely careful not to make another because she would never forgive herself for being selfish and still alive… because she let her sister _die_ " she said with as much venom as she could muster and I snapped.

"Don't you dare blame that on me too! I didn't ask Skylynn to put her neck on the line for me!" I shouted.

"Then I would think twice before doing something that would get my sister executed. But I guess you wouldn't care, after all, you can't feel anything with a frozen heart" she snapped.

"Anna!" exclaimed Kristoff.

"Listen up you little!-" I was cut off, falling face first behind Anna and Kristoff's seat, hitting my head on the back of the seat, when the mountain-man instantly stopped the sled and grabbed Anna before she could fall over.

"We're here and that's enough! Anna, you stay here. _You_ get off this sled. NOW" he thundered pointing at me.

"Oh, I'm still recovering from serious wound infections and you made me hit my head, but I'm fine! Thank you for asking" I complained but followed his orders.

"You shut your mouth!" he snapped "Now you see those guys over there?" he said pointing at the ice harvesters already at work as he unshackled me. We were in the high mountains where the ice never melts. Snow covered the mountains while the lake's surface was solid ice.

"Yeah?" I said smugly.

"They will introduce you to someone and then tell you what to do" he said "Go. One wrong move-"

"Yeah, yeah! And I can kiss my freedom good-bye. This is getting old"

"Listen to me very carefully, pretty boy" the blonde gorilla said grabbing the collar of my coat with a hand "I don't like you. I don't like you for what you did to Anna, I don't like you for what you did to Elsa, and I don't like you in general. You're a just a disrespectful, ungrateful, lying, manipulative, power hungry sociopath, who should consider himself lucky that Elsa and Anna have been so merciful of you. Next time you talk to my fiancée like that again, recovered or not, I'm going to kick your ass. Am I clear?" Kristoff snapped

"Crystal" I said. I'm not going to lie. BBG a.k.a. Big Blonde Gorilla can be intimidating.

"Good" he let go of my coat "Now get to work" I immediately obliged. I looked back only once to see Anna smirking triumphantly at me and giving Kristoff a hug after jumping down the sled, only to be welcomed by his scolding look. I shook my head and walked to the ice harvesters who immediately started mocking me when I got there.

"If it isn't the Fallen Prince" said the first big guy who saw me

"Hey, he passed the second week and isn't complaining yet. Not bad for a shrimp like him" said another.

"Wait until he is recovered, then you'll see how he's going to beg for a break" mocked another.

"Master Ice Harvester said you wanted to introduce me to someone" I said not bothering to answer them.

"Oh, yes. We did" said one with two big mustaches "Come over, pretty boy" I rolled my eyes but followed him. I couldn't help but feel nervous as I followed this guy, simply because I had other 20 looking at me and the others were either working or still to come. Plus, I am 6'1" and I am the shortest of all… that's saying something.

"Here" the ice-harvester said "Meet Mr. Hook" and he threw me a metal bar with a hook that I easily caught "And this is Mr. Saw" he said and handed me a really heavy saw I saw them use to cut the ice "Now, you take these two, you cut a big ice pool and with the hook you take it out of the water and put it near the lifting machine. We will do the rest" he said "Now run along. Have fun"

"Hooray…" I mumbled and carried the heavy tools with me until I found the perfect spot, the ice seemed solid enough and it wasn't too far from the machines. I put down the hook, grabbed the saw and immediately got to work. I'm going to repeat it, working with the ice harvesters was hard and Kristoff was still going easy on me because I was recovering, but there was something positive in this: the sights. When we first arrived here it was freezing cold and the sunrise made the snow from the higher mountains turn into light shades of pink that, as the sun got higher, became orange until the snow got back to its white color when the sun rose completely, but those few hours of sunrise were beautiful and comforting in away.

I don't know for how long I had been working, I just knew that I was so hot I would have taken my coat off if it wasn't because I knew that having sweat freeze on me wasn't exactly the most brilliant idea, good thing I didn't have a hat. To top it all, my back was killing me. I had to take a break. The only nice thing Kristoff had said to me, so far, was that when I felt the need I could take some time off, but made it clear to specify that I was allowed to do so only if necessary. I got out of the water one last ice block and pushed it near the lifting machine with the others, luckily it was the last of the series so I could relax a bit, while the others lifted it up on the sleds. I sat down next to the machine, resting my back for a while. In the meantime, I entertained myself looking at Anna who was having trouble getting a block of ice out of the water. I chuckled lightly as I watched her struggling to lift it up. She wasn't too far away from me, in fact I believe she heard me snickering behind her, as she turned around to send me a glare, but kept on trying, clearly not wanting to give up and probably prove a point to me.

Soon enough Kristoff came along and told her to let him do it, but she stubbornly kept going, not even allowing him to get close to the ice block. He sighed and shook his head. Then Anna, surprisingly managed to lift the ice block out of the water and put it on the ground, only to slip on the ice and fall on her butt afterwards. I couldn't stop myself from chuckling, good thing they weren't looking at me, too wrapped up in their own laughing. Kristoff immediately helped the laughing Anna up, but before he could say anything, she had already grabbed one of the hooks and started pushing the ice block towards the lifting machine, BBG trailing behind her just in case. As they got closer, I stood up and dusted myself off the snow, taking it as my cue to go back to work, then I heard the typical snapping sound of a broken rope.

"WATCH OUT!" a man had shouted. I didn't realize that the rope lifting up the ice cargo had snapped… and I was right underneath it. The moment I realized I was about to get squashed like a bug by the ice, someone tackled me to the ground and the ice crashed a few feet away from us. But that didn't stop me from yelping in pain and squeezing my eyes shut when my back touched the hard ice, ignoring the light weight of the person who tackled me, whom I felt immediately getting up.

"Anna! Are you alright?" I heard Kristoff ask as he got closer to me.

"Yeah, I'm fine" I heard Anna answer "Hans are you okay?" she asked me.

"My back… I think a wound or two reopened…" I said through gritted teeth "Geez! It hurts!"

"Let me see" Kristoff said and carefully helped me sit up. I painfully lifted up my shirt and coat so that Kristoff could take a peek, only to have him make me pull my clothes back down immediately "A couple of wounds reopened and you're bleeding. I have to take you back, you need a doctor" he said "Is everyone alright?" he asked to the others and received positive responses "Alfred, Edvard, Klemens" he said pointing to a few ice harvesters "You guys repair the lifting machine. Gregor, Baldor, Kaspar" he pointed to others "You guys clear out this mess. The rest of you get back to work. I'll be back shortly" he said and helped me up and to the sled, Anna trailing behind us. "Anna, stay here next to him" Kristoff said. I thought she was going to complain, but she didn't and obliged, surprising me even more when she took off her cape and put it on my back. Then it dawned on me.

"Princess Anna…you… you just saved my life" I said looking at her incredulously "That thing would have squashed me, if you hadn't push me away"

"Yup! I did save you. Now you know that's my specialty" she said with a smile.

"But you hate me. Why?"

"I saved him from wolves once" she said pointing to Kristoff "I can save you too" she answered. No one said anything afterwards and I couldn't help but feel like a worthless worm even more, knowing that I tried to kill her and Anna saved my life… when she had no need to… or obligation… she could have let me die and have me out of her life forever… but she didn't… she saved me when I left her to die…

When we came back and the doctor took care of my wounds, Skylynn was the first to burst inside the room and ask me how I was and what happened and instead of answering like a normal person, I snapped back like an angry dog. No wonder why Skylynn got angry this time and got out of the room like a tornado. I instantly felt bad… I was angry with myself and I had taken it out yelling at her. This didn't help at all with the inner turmoil I was going through at the moment… I had just brought myself lower than I already was.

 **Elsa's POV:**

If on one side I was out of my mind with worry and was tempted to scold both her and Kristoff, on the other I was proud of Anna. That was my sister, she was always there to help those in need. No matter who they were. Hans was about to get crushed by a heavy load of ice and Anna reacted bravely, because she has a heart of gold. When she told me that she saved Hans, something came into my mind, though. Maybe this accident after my attempt to knock some sense into him did something. I needed to speak with him. Anna didn't head back to the mountains as she said that she had her ice harvesting share for the day. She decided to go to town with Olaf before her lute lessons with Skylynn, instead. Kristoff, though, headed back.  
As soon as I was finished with my reunion with my new commission of ministers, I went to see Hans. Part of me was not even sure where to start, but we needed to talk. When I was about to get to the door, though, Skylynn burst out of the room and stormed in my direction, visibly irritated, but greeted me with a nod of the head, anyway.

"Hold on a moment. Not so fast" I said putting an arm in front of her "What happened?"

"He- I-… Hans- he's just- I just-… ARGH!" she muttered angrily.

"Listen, if you killed him, I don't want to know. Make up a plausible excuse and let someone else find the corpse, because I've had enough 'I-Killed-My-Sibling' issues to last me a lifetime"

"No! I didn't kill him… yet" she said.

"Okay, that's a good start- Wait-what?!"

"Too bad he shaved off his sideburns because, frankly, the first thing I wanted to do was rip them off and choked him with them… Like you do with a rope, you know?" I raised my eyebrows and blinked. Silence… then… I voiced my thoughts

"You're a psychopath"

"I'm not a psychopath, I'm a high-functioning sociopath. There's a difference in that" she answered. I shook my head inhaling deeply.

"What happened?" I asked

"Him being a utter _dick._ That's what happened!" I raised my eyebrows.

"Well, that makes sense" Skylynn took a deep breath closing her eyes.

"I need to relax a moment. I'll go ride Black Beauty, you want to join me?" she asked.

"I'll have to pass for today. Maybe next time" I answered.

"I count on it. I'll see you later" and with that, she left. Considering that Hans had actually managed to tick Skylynn off, it was probably best to see him later. So I turned on my heals and went to take care of the boring paperwork I had to look over.  
After dinner and my usual book reading time, I finally went to see Hans. It wasn't too late in the evening, so he was probably still awake. As I walked through the corridor, I saw the guards were at their place, as usual. The reason of what I did next are unknown to me, but I did. Part of me just told me it was the right thing to do: speaking to him privately with no one around risking to hear him.

"Guards" I said

"Yes, your Majesty?" they replied

"Leave the door and come back in half an hour" I said

"Your Majesty, are you sure?" said one of the guards.

"I need to speak with the prisoner about a certain matter and for the sake of his privacy, I want to make sure no one is listening"

"But, your Majesty. Are you sure it isn't dangerous for you to be alone around him?" asked the other man.

"Trying something would be foolish, he knows that, but thank you for your concern" I replied

"As you wish, my Queen" said the other soldier and as they left, I silently opened the door only to draw it back close the moment I saw Skylynn inside the room talking to Hans. I kept the door opened just enough so I could watch. She was standing up while he was sitting on the bed. I know, I wasn't supposed to eavesdrop, but I did anyway.

"We took different paths, Hans" Skylynn was saying "It's not like we're in a hiking competition"

"Isn't it though?" Hans answered in a depressed like way "Because since things happened I kept feeling like we're climbing this mountain together and you are just so far ahead, much closer to the top than I am… that…" he paused "You know when we were younger I liked the fact you would look up to me. I liked that I, being your big brother, was the one protecting you from our psycho siblings. I like the fact that I was your mentor and the first person you would go looking for, for help and support" he paused "And now I look at your life and even with all the crap and pressures you had and still have to deal with, I can't help but see how much our paths have taken different turns"

"What are you really trying to say?" Skylynn asked.

"I guess I didn't just lost track of you, but lost track of myself, too. I mean-… you didn't even want me there when you got shot by an arrow, for God's sake!" he said with his voice trembling as he stood up and walked past her. Hans seemed on the verge of tears, his eyes were watery and his voice had trembled. It was hard to believe my own eyes.

"I begged Storm not to tell you because I didn't want you to freak out like you did when I got stabbed" she said turning to look at him there was a pause, then a thought seemed to occur to Skylynn's mind "Hans, are you are jealous of me?"

"I don't like the way I _feel_ about myself anymore, Skylynn!" Hans snapped with watery eyes, catching me off guard with that sentence " _I_ am your mentor, _I_ taught you everything you know and now look at you and look at me. I tried to steal a kingdom and I tried to kill two people. Anna is the sweetest and most innocent girl I've ever met and I manipulated her, I played with her heart, humiliated her by taking advantage of her need of feeling loved and to top it all: I tried to kill her sister! But what did she do? She saved my life today! Then there's Elsa, my other victim, the one with that _amazing_ ice magic gift. She is not just beautiful and powerful; I hear the guards talking from outside, I know what she did with the ministers. I was about to kill a woman, who has all the potential to prove herself to be the greatest ruler Arendelle has ever had. Before striking, I made her believe that she had killed her sister, she- she was devastated! And now that she got the chance to get me out of their lives forever, to get her revenge, she actually allows you to put your neck on the line for me. She has _mercy_ of me, _both_ sisters had mercy of me. I don't deserve this mercy, Sky! I don't' deserve any of this!" he shouted "But while I did all this, with the things I taught you, you _earned_ everything you have, you deserve it. The choices we made are what make us different. This is the greatest difference between us" he said "Do you know why I stopped opening up to you? It's because I feel _insecure_ around you. I feel _insecure_ opening up to my own sister. I know what I did. I screwed up and I don't need someone else judging me for it!"

"I would never do that!" Skylynn said. Then what I thought was going to be impossible happened. A tear slid down Hans' cheek.

"I know…" he said covering his face with his hands, wiping away the tear "And I'm sorry if I doubt you it's just…" he took a deep breath "Sky, you are my only family. And …" he paused trying hard not to cry "I- I'm just so scared that one day you'll finally wake up and realize: _I don't need my big brother Hans anymore_ … because you don't… because now, after what I did, I am only something to be ashamed of" he said, ending the sentence with a sad shrug, as another tear slid down his cheek. Skylynn slowly shook her head.

"No, Hans" she said "I could never think that of you. You are my brother and if it weren't for you, I would have never gotten where I am now. Everything I am, I owe it to your teachings and you don't know how grateful I am to you. I could never be ashamed of you… Maybe deep down, there is some truth in what Elsa told you, perhaps there has always been a little competition. Maybe this is the way it is supposed to be between brother and sister… but we're in this together. You fell off the mountain, now it's my turn to help you get back up" Skylynn paused as Hans' emerald green watery eyes didn't dare to look at her silver ones while she placed a hand on his shoulder comfortingly "Next time you're going through something like this, talk to me. You don't need to be afraid of me. Okay?" she said in a gentle voice. Hans nodded and muttered a trembling 'okay' as tears streamed down his face, then Skylynn hugged him as he leaned down and buried his face in her shoulder as he cried.

I silently closed the door and walked away towards my room, thinking over what I just saw and heard. I wasn't even supposed to listen to this conversation. That was Skylynn alright, but that man... That man wasn't the same I met during the Eternal Winter and during the trial. That was a broken man, who felt alone and abandoned in this world. What he said was the exact opposite of what he told us when in prison. I thought about the way he talked about Anna and I. I wasn't expecting such words to come out of his mouth, such nice things, such positive opinions, it struck me how he had called my powers an _amazing ice magic_ _ **gift**_. When he spoke about himself, what had been heartbreaking and shocking at the same time was hearing him admit how he truly felt about himself. He felt so bad that he was scared to death that his sister, the only person he identifies as family, would abandon him. So scared that he stopped opening up to the only person who was willing to listen. It… it sounded all too familiar.

That night was too soon, but it was then that I decided that tomorrow I was going to talk to him. As I thought this over, I got inside my room and saw that Anna was already asleep. I got my nightgown, went to the room's bathroom and changed into my nightwear. Then I quietly tiptoed to Anna's bed, kissed my little sister's forehead and as soon as I was under the covers of my comfy bed, I closed my eyes, but when I was about to go to Dreamland…

"Elsa" I heard Anna call me flopping on my back

"Hm?" I mumbled.

"Elsa, wake up" she answered

"I am up" I answered and sat up as Anna moved away, only to sit on my bed "Weren't you asleep? What is it?" I asked.

"I was about to, you sort of woke me up. I wanted to ask you something. Well, actually, I wanted to ask you tomorrow, but I'm just so excited and- it's okay, if you don't want to- I just thought- I mean- I just-"

"Anna, you're rambling" I said with a smile.

"Oops! Sorry. I'll just ask you" she said "Look, I know it's kind of early, but..." she paused and asked me the question "Will you walk me down the aisle?" As she asked me, my smile couldn't get any wider.

"Of course" and as I answered, Anna grinned from ear to ear.

* * *

 **And there you have it! The "hard nut to crack" has finally cracked! What do you think is going to happen next? CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS WELL ACCEPTED! Let me know what you think of this story and what you think is going to happen next with a REVIEW!  
**

 **Because of my delay, I WILL BE POSTING AN AT LEAST 8,000 CHARACTER CHAPTER THIS FRIDAY, hoping to be forgiven ;-)  
**

 **!GUESS THE QUOTE CHALLENGE!  
Okay, as usual I quoted some series and movies, here and there. Guess them all and I'll send you a sneak peek of the next chapter in a PM! :-)**

 **Thank you all for reading this story and being so patient, I appreciate it.  
In case you want to ask me something or tell me something to which you expect a response, please log in so I can reply to you. I also ask you this because some things, even a compliment, sometimes are best to be replied to in a PM.**

 **See you on Friday! :-)**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	14. Two Queens' Race

**Skylynn's POV:**

I was sitting in the music room alone playing the piano, lost in thought. After Hans' breakdown, a couple of nights ago, we talked some more. It was finally clear to me why he was behaving in such an aggressive manner with all of us. Others could think that my job was now complete, too bad that it wasn't and not just because of what I did during the trial. When I was first told that Anna had saved his life, I lost count of how many times I thanked her for saving him. Hans had calmed down these last few days, he acted almost mechanically. I knew it was because he was still rather shaken from Anna saving his life and he was still processing everything. I didn't blame him, it was a lot to take in. However, what was concerning me now was not Hans, actually, he was probably a victim in the situation.

" _Moonlight Sonata,_ First Movement, your favorite" my head snapped up when I heard that voice and stopped playing.

"Storm" I said meeting his blue eyes. Storm was casually leaning on the doorway of the music room in his red uniform, one hand on his belt, the other on the helm of his sword.

"You haven't lost your touch" he said walking closer to me.

"Thank you… I guess" I paused "How are you doing?" Storm shrugged.

"Not bad. I could get used to Arendelle" I rolled my eyes, lowering them back on the keyboard.

"Of course you can" I said and went back to playing.

"But I miss home" he added. I didn't look up to him, but my lips twitched in an ironic side smile.

"Too bad I can't agree on that with you"

"I was talking about Drakora" I looked back up to him.

"In that case then, yes, I can agree" I said. Storm smiled and walked to the piano, placing a hand and leaning on it.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked "You haven't insulted me yet or tried to make me feel guilty about what happened during the Revolution, although I've just given you the perfect opportunity to do so. Plus, I bet you're trying to either think, or relax, or both"

"Oh? And what makes you so sure about that?" I challenged.

"I am sure because every time you were stressed out, angry, or you needed to think over a strategy, you always used to steal Carter's lute, go somewhere quiet and lonely to play it, without singing; you kept the singing for cheering us up or for when we were in the mood for a sing-along"

"I didn't steal Carter's lute, I borrowed it without having him know. I returned it eventually. But back to the topic, yes, all these things are correct, my dear Storm, but there is something else I do when I need to think or relax or both"

"Oh, you mean riding Black Beauty? Right. I left that one out" he said with a smirk.

"Wow, stalker much?"

"I call it 'Observing-The-Only-Woman-In-The-Army-That-Sneaks-Around- A-Lot'" he countered. I shook my head and went back to playing ' _Moonlight Sonata'_. "So" Storm continued "What are you thinking about?"

"Gordon and Herbert" I started "When I confronted them… you don't beat to pulp and make your younger sibling's existence a living hell just because your father would tell you to take him as an example" I said.

"Well, that is not really nice. My father used to do that with my comrades and I can assure you, it doesn't feel good" he said.

"Yeah, well. But you don't try to purposely make your younger brother feel like a _'worthless piece of nothing'-_ quoting Hans- because your father used this not-so-nice method of pushing you to do your best. I mean, they put him under such a psychological pressure to make him to feel the need to prove himself to them and try to take on some suicide mission. For some reason they wanted him dead and the reason they gave me..." I looked at him and shook my head "It doesn't convince me"

"Envy and jealousy can bring people to do very bad things" Storm said.

"Yeah, but… to kill your own sibling? It would have made more sense if that happened to August because he is the second in line, or even better, Theodore, but Hans? He's the thirteenth, Theodore is the first in line, he's not married yet and doesn't have kids, or at least not that anyone knows of. If Theodore were in Hans' position it would have made much more sense, but still, it's Hans we're talking about. It isn't logical!"

"So, basically you think there is something bigger behind the… uhm… 'Arendelle Incident', right?"

"Right… there is something fishy going on and I need to find out what it is. I just… I can't let Hans go back to that place when his sentence is done, they would only try to finish the job, whatever reason they have"

"Once your brother's punishment is over, I'll go back to the Isles. Maybe I could try to find out something for you"

"Thank you for your offer, but I think I'll have to pass" I said. Storm was about to complain, then realization hit him.

"I get it…" he said.

"Storm, you left us when we needed you. You put me in an awful position. You turned your back on your people. It's not easy to forgive and forget, you may not have joined Hugh's forces and allies but still, that's called treason"

"Why did you prevent Landon from exiling me, anyway? Aren't I in the 'Coward Deceivers' category?" he asked. I stopped playing.

"You are many things, Storm" I started, looking at him straight in the eyes "But you are not a coward. That's the only thing about you I'm sure of" Storm looked at me inquisitively.

"The only thing you're sure of about me? After a war together? I'm torn, Skylynn. Should I take it as a genuine compliment or as an _offensive_ compliment?"

"I'd consider it something that makes you feel good and bad at the same time"

"Someone's undecided. No, wait!" he cut me off before I could reply "You have a plan when you're at the head of others, but on your own…. you make things up as you go" A tiny smile couldn't help but escaped my lips as he quoted me and he smiled back. For a moment it felt like it were yesterday that we were at war together and that we would have some solo missions Landon didn't order and were one step closer to the goal. Landon would usually get mad at us, but since we didn't do any damage and helped instead, everyone would let us off the hook. Landon usually never gave solo missions or special tasks, except if it wasn't for spying around. If there were some strategies that I thought were lacking in something or that weren't actually the best of ideas, if Landon didn't listen to us, Storm and I would leave him out of it and go get what we wanted our way, even if that meant disobeying to the King. Storm would usually complain about it because, well, Landon was the king, but in the end he would always come with me no matter what. Even though we were at war, those were good times. I remember that on one of our last missions together, Storm and I had been blown to hell…

* * *

 **Flashback  
(A/N: Bold: **Drakorian, _Italics:_ English **)**

 _Storm and I were on the same ship. We were attacking one of Hugh's major headquarters sailing up the Black river, known for its deep waters and strong flows. We were sailing the river against the current, since it was the only way to the most exposed part of the headquarters. Unfortunately for us, Hugh had been expecting us. There had been a spy among us. We were almost near the banks where the rebels were supposed to dock, but before we could reach it, there was a loud bang that came from the back of our ship, where the heavy artillery we were transferring was. Storm and I immediately rushed below deck. There was a man standing next to a cannon._

" _ **What happened here?**_ _" I thundered in Drakorian. The man looked at me with wide eyes._

" _ **You just gave away our position!**_ _" Storm added angrily._

" _ **Captain, First mate! I-I- have no idea what happened. I was in my place and then this just- It just blew up! I think someone sabotaged it**_ _" he answered in the same language. Then I saw where he was holding his hands._

" _ **Plausible enough. What's behind your back?**_ _" I inquired. He just shrugged._

" _ **Nothing**_ _"_

" _ **Captain! We're being attacked!**_ _" someone shouted from above deck. Storm and I looked at the man one second before he threw two stones at us and ran away._

" _ **Get him, Storm! You know Landon's orders: no traitors aboard!**_ _" I ordered._

" _ **Aye, aye , Captain!**_ _" he replied, unsheathed his dagger and ran after the traitor, while I got back up on deck. We were almost there, but archers on the top of the cliffs that formed most of the river banks were waiting for us and they were shooting us with flaming arrows. My men were trying to fight back, archers firing, trying to protect the sailors. We weren't getting anywhere like this. Then I saw that the next shore, might not have been the one we were supposed to get to, but it was the closest to the forest covering most of the landscape in the area a few feet away. We could hide there. The archers wouldn't have been able to shoot us. A second later, Landon's ship came next to mine._

" _Captain Engel-Westerguard! Send the soldiers below deck, all of them. We're landing on the next shore, there's a forest over there, the archers won't be able to hit us!" Landon shouted as if reading my mind._

" _Aye, aye, King Landon!" I said and rushed to work "_ _ **Stop firing! Spare the ammo! Everyone below deck except the crew!**_ _" I shouted in Drakorian "_ _ **Soldiers, get ready to dock!**_ _" I shouted. In that moment Storm came back up on deck rushing to my side. "_ _ **First Mate, to the wheel. Get us to that shore over there!**_ _"_

" _ **Aye, Captain!**_ _" he said and went to the wheel. The boats ahead of us were already docked in front of the shore, the rebels immediately rushing into the woods for protection. Landon's ship was the one in front of us. Suddenly, from the top of the cliffs, soldiers appeared… with cannons._ Damn it! _was my only thought. They started shooting first at Landon's vessel. The ship was badly damaged, but luckily for us Landon and most of the men made it to the shore alive. Suddenly our ship was hit by a cannon ball as well. The master tree was destroyed. Pieces of wood went flying everywhere._

" _ **Lower the anchor!**_ _" I ordered. A few sailors came to me and helped me put down the anchor. Then I ran to open the doors that would get us below deck "_ _ **Out of the ship! Out!**_ _" I shouted. The soldiers immediately swarmed out and jumped out of the ship to the shore and ran to the woods. Being the First Mate and the Captain, Storm and I were the last to leave the ship. The last soldier had jumped overboard a second before I saw the cannons aiming at us. Storm and I ran to the edge, but before we could jump off, we were hit, not by one, but three cannon balls that threw us into the cold water and destroyed the ship._

 _The current was strong, we couldn't swim our way to the others, luckily neither of us had hit their head on a rock. Storm was ahead of me, calling my name. The cold water's current pushing us farther away. This river was dangerous and not just for the current and whirlpools that could drown us, but because further away, much further from where we started sailing up the river, there were waterfalls, big and tall waterfalls. The river pushed us near the banks,and both of us immediately tried to grab onto something on the high edge. Storm then suddenly managed to grab onto something, unlike me, but before the current could push me away, Storm grabbed my wrist with his free hand._

" _Sky, climb onto me to get up there and help me up" he shouted. I immediately did as he said. I grabbed his shoulders and while Storm gripped on a thick protruding tree root with both hands. As soon as I let go of his hand, I used his body as a ladder, careful not to push him underwater. As soon as I got out of the water, I immediately grabbed his hand and helped him out. The moment we were out of the water, soaked, we laid on our backs panting. We just need a few seconds to catch our breaths, still holding tight onto each other's hand._

" _Are you alright?" I asked him._

" _Yeah. You?" he replied._

" _I'm good" I answered, but then we remained silent for a moment, still breathing heavily and our hearts beating fast, but sent each other a look. That look caused us to chuckle lightheartedly as the same thought passed through our heads:_ Landon better give us a promotion, that was one hardcore stunt we just pulled _._ _Storm and I then got back on our feet, looking at our surroundings. It took me a few seconds but then I recognized were we were. We had passed this part of the Black River not too long ago, that meant that we weren't too far back away from the others, but that also meant something else. The moment my eyes met Storm's I realized he had come to my same conclusion._

" _You're insane" was his reaction._

" _Storm, if we cut through these woods, we can get to the western entrance of the fortress. Landon's cover is now blown._ Someone _will have to create a diversion so the others can get into the fortress… and we still have our swords…"_

" _We've just been blown to hell and you want to break into the fortress to act as a live bait?"_

" _Or we could create a diversion on the west entrance and open the gates to the south one. I'm sure the rebels wouldn't mind seeing us open the doors for them"_

" _So basically, it's a yes" he said. I grinned "Landon told us to steer clear of the west entrance, it's full of soldiers and cannons, they are waiting for us"_

" _Yeah, well,_ alive _and at the head of an army of rebels" I said unsheathing my sword and twirling it._

" _You always know how to make an entrance, don't you?" he said. I smirked at him and he smirked back "Oh, yeah! Sky and Storm are back in the game!"_

" _Let's get into that fortress and see what kind of trouble we can get into" I said putting my sword back in its sheath. In short, that night, the fortress was ours._

 _ **End Flashback**_

* * *

I averted my eyes from him and went back to playing. Yeah, we were a good team. That was one of our best missions and Landon actually did give us a promotion. When we used to fight together, Storm and I didn't need to look at each other, we knew what the other was doing without speaking, we knew each other's moves and fighting style, I trusted him with my life and he trusted me with his... then he went and ruined everything.

"So…" I began changing topic "I heard you're staying here as an ambassador of the Southern Isles"

"I am, but before he departed King Theodore told me that I was here more for Elsa and Anna's protection, in case your brother dared to try anything funny" he said.

"So, who are you serving? Queen Elsa or King Theodore? Oh, and I don't need to mention that technically, you're still a Drakorian citizen, do I?"

"Well, you seem not to want my service, so maybe the Queen, maybe the King. Who knows?"

"I would think over my strategy, if I were you. In your position, being vague might not be the best tactic" I said.

"Is that a threat, Skylynn?" he replied, challengingly.

"Let's just say that I may not exactly be in Elsa's graces but Anna is my number one fan and is a strong influence on Elsa. It'd be a shame, if our lovely queen would start doubting your loyalty, especially after receiving the attentions of a gentleman such as yourself" I said.

"I feel like I'm supposed to be intimidated by this, but part of me says you're mocking me" he said with cocky side smile.

"I would never!" I mocked for real this time. He just shook his head.

"You still haven't answered to my question" he said speaking seriously "Why did you prevent Landon from exiling me?"

"What you did is considered treason, but you didn't help our enemy and I know you're not a coward. Maybe it's because deep, deep down, hidden very underneath I may still have considered you as a friend"

" _Considered?_ What about now? I told you what was happening to your brother and that doesn't mean anything to you?" he said glaring at me. I stopped playing once again.

"You betrayed us, Storm. Lots of people who could have survived died because of you. Lots of Drakorians could still have their sons, husbands or fathers if you hadn't left us. I had to take your place and abandon those who wanted me to guide them leaving them to follow an amateur. I was counting on you. I needed your help and you turned your back on me, and since you think you know me so well, you should know that once my trust is lost, it is lost forever" I paused and stood up looking at him in the eyes "And if you really want to gain it back it takes much more than a letter" with that said I left the music room, leaving him alone in the room.

I silently walked through the corridor, heading towards the stables. It was a beautiful day outside, the perfect weather for a ride, plus, Black Beauty gets kind of grumpy if I don't ride him at least once a day. If I can't ride him, I usually let him out of the stables and canter around on his own, he comes back eventually.  
As I got to the stables, making sure the two guards following me lost track of me – I mean _\- Seriously?!_ Someone should teach these guys how to spy on someone and follow them around without getting caught- I noticed there were a few guards around on their horses, waiting. None of them noticed me, and that was good. I sneaked into the stables and went to Black Beauty's box, exactly when the stable boy was taking out a golden brown horse.

"Hey, boy" I said smiling at my horse. The black stallion whinnied and hit his hoof on the ground. I opened the box and Black immediately came out nuzzling his muzzle on my cheek and bumping me in the stomach with its head as if he was saying: " _Hey! Where have you been?! Cuddle me!"_

"Alright, bud. Let's go" I said scratching its head. Black whinnied again and followed me out of the stables. As my horse and I got outside, we just made it in time to see who the guards were waiting for: Queen Elsa. She was in her lady horseback attire, a dark purple dress with elegant dark red and yellow decorations from her waist up, a matching jacket, brown horseback short cut boots, and her hair in a more casual bun, bust still very queenly looking, and she was just about to get on the horse.

"Well, well!" I said with a smile drawing the attention to me "Looks like her Majesty finally decided to have a little fun" I said smirking.

"Hello, Queen Skylynn" she said smiling back at me "I suppose you're going for a ride as well" but before she could say anything else, her horse pushed past her and trotted to me, her guards already about to chase after it.

"Sitron" I said recognizing the horse as it nuzzled my hands while I stroked it. Elsa walked to me puzzled.

"You know my horse?" she asked.

" _Hans's_ horse" I said eyeing her.

"You know what I mean" she said eyeing me back.

"Well, to answer your question, yes I do. He is the first horse I have ever ridden, I was about 7 years-old when Hans first put me on a horse" I said and in that moment Black bumped my back with its head.

 _Hey! What about me?_ he seemed to say

"Black Beauty is the first horse I actually rode and tamed on my own, but I was 14 at the time" I said petting my horse once and going back to petting Sitron "Hans used to walk and lead Sitron with a rope while I was on the saddle or he would put me on the saddle, climb up behind me and we would ride together" I said scratching Sitron's head "So, I suppose he got under your custody since my brother's 'Arendelle Fiasco', but how did you get to tame him? Because unless Hans is there he would usually be very grumpy. It took me almost a year before he would allow me to pet him without having my brother on the watch. Didn't it, boy?" I said scratching him behind the ear.

"I just went to see him in the stables where he was left after Hans departed. At first he whinnied at me with his ears back, you could say he was glaring at me, but then I tried to soothe him, I gave him a couple of carrots and… I don't know, he seemed pretty scared at first. Then he calmed down and you can say we became friends" she answered.

"I guess you are one of his 'chosen ones' and I wasn't " I said stroking the horse. Elsa chuckled lightly.

" _Chosen ones_?" she asked

"Yeah, Hans told me that unlike the rest of our siblings Sitron took a like in him immediately, just like you"

"Oh, I feel honored, Sitron" Elsa said petting his neck "So, I believe I owed you a ride, will you join us?" she asked me.

"Absoutely" I answered smiling. Elsa led back Sitron to the stable boy and a guard helped her up on her saddle. It wasn't like the ones I usually use, it was one of those made for women only, so that they could ride with a dress putting their legs on the side.

"Would you want my stable boy to go prepare your horse?" she asked me.

"Oh, no need" I said and placing my hands on my stallion's back and with a swift jump I got on his back using its main as reins.

"Bareback?" Elsa said looking at me surprised.

"Yup" I said.

"Your Majesties, we're ready to go" said one of the soldiers

"Alright, let's go" Elsa said and together with the soldiers accompanying us, we went for a walk. Elsa and I remained silent for most of the stroll. Let's just say, that I wasn't exactly planning on going for a walk with the guards for many reasons. We had made it half way up in the mountains. Not too far down from the ice harvesting grounds; beautiful view, soft cold breeze tingling your nose, the sun shining high, the snow a few feet up… this is such a wasted walk! Unfortunately, being the guest, I just had to suck it up. I bet riding with Anna is ten times more fun than this is. Elsa and I were walking in front of the soldiers, and that to me was proof that Elsa would soon have to fire whoever is training these guys.

"Psst! Sky" Elsa called from next to me "This is getting boring"

"Thank God you noticed! Do you always ride like this?" I asked, whispering back.

"Unfortunately" she said, then she looked behind us, then back to me "Why don't we go on a walk _our_ way?" she asked with a smirk. I raised an eyebrow surprised.

"Are you seriously asking me to ditch the guards? _You_ out of all people" I said surprised.

"Why not? Sitron and Black Beauty seem to be getting grumpy from the boring walk, I'm supposed to go check on the ice harvesters later, like I do every once a month and I'd like to go say 'hi' to my brother-in-law, we can go there. Come on! Nothing is going to happen" she said. I thought about it for a moment, remembering what happened when Landon died. Guards or no guards, if we were going to be attacked for some reason, their presence wouldn't change much. "Plus" Elsa continued "If my powers weren't enough, your sword is at my service, right? Who could ever ask for a better bodyguard than the heroic Queen of Drakora herself?" she said with a friendly wink. I grinned at her.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked in a whisper.

"How fast is Black Beauty against these guys?" Elsa asked. I grinned as an idea popped into my head.

"Gentlemen" I said turning around to face the guards "Why don't we all spice up the walk?"

"Excuse me, Queen Skylynn?" one of them said puzzled.

"I challenge you all to a race, Queen Elsa included" I said smirking at her.

"I accept your challenge" said Elsa, going along with it "What about you gentlemen? The race starts from here to the Oak Forest. Whichever of you wins against Queen Skylynn, by getting there first, shall receive a day-off as reward" As soon as she said that all the guards accepted my challenge and at the count of three we galloped towards the forest. At first, Elsa and I were going fast, then we ordered our horses to slow down and one by one, the guards passed in front of us. Then, when there was enough distance between us and the guards, Elsa and I changed direction, heading to the mountains, where the ice harvesters were. We galloped higher up in the mountains, until the only visible color was the snow's whiteness. As soon as we made sure the guards weren't following us Elsa and I stopped our horses and we burst out laughing like idiots.

" _Really_?! Was it _that_ easy?" Elsa said between her laughter, covering her mouth with a hand. _Even when she's having fun, she still holds back…_

"Did you see how they ran? They seemed pretty eager to get a day off" I said laughing. Then our laughter died down as we petted our horses, but a smile never left our face.

"You don't seem surprised by how easily we sneaked away" Elsa said.

"No, I'm not" she raised an eyebrow "I've been through a war, Elsa… I don't have _'stupid'_ written on my forehead, I know when someone is following me. You should really go check your army's training methods, by the way, and if you want me to be followed around, maybe find someone who can be a little bit more discreet" I said. Elsa grunted in frustration.

"How long did it take you to notice I had you be followed around?"

"Uhm… about 30 seconds" I said. Elsa hung her head low with a frustrated sigh "I told them to keep it down. Of all things I know about you, for sure, I know you're a soldier and you're good at it"

"Thank you" I said smirking "That was fun though" Elsa laughed

"Yes, it was" she said then she looked back at me "So… you ride bareback?" she said eyeing me amusingly

"Yeah, it feels good, you know. You feel one with your horse, especially when you have a good bond with it, like Black and I have, right bud?" I said petting Black Beauty's neck. He whinnied contently.

"Did your brother teach you how to ride bareback as well?"

"No, actually that is self-taught" I said "Starting from the fact that I've always had a fascination for Drakora ever since Mom told me that we do have some drakorian blood. Her great-grandfather was 100% Drakorian, then he married a Southern Islander and the following generations were Southern Islander, but- anyway-" I paused getting back to the point "When I studied history, I grew to have a small obsession with the ancient Drakorian natives and their culture and rituals and stuff…" I shyly admitted "And I read that they used to ride bareback. So, as soon as I got Black Beauty I immediately wanted to try it out, with Hans around just to make sure I didn't break my neck, and when I managed, I rode him bareback ever since, except for when I went to war. I had to use a saddle there. I only ride bareback for my own pleasure, and his of course, Black Beauty never really liked the bite, anyway"

"But doesn't it hurt when you pull on his main to give him commands?" Elsa asked curiously.

"Funny as it sounds, no it doesn't. Look at Sitron's main" I said pointing to the horse's short main, that stood straight upward "To cut it like that, the stable boy or Hans, simply combed it upwards and pulled. It doesn't hurt them. Plus, Black likes to have me riding him like this. He hates the bite"

"Really?" Elsa said raising an eyebrow holding back a smile.

"Yup, once I was about to go training with Hans and had just put the saddle on him and the reins where hooked next to where Black was tied. I had just put the brush away and when I turned back around, Black lowered his ears, grabbed the reins _from_ _the bite_ , tossed them to the ground and whinnied, stomping his hoof like if he was saying _'I don't want that! I hate that thing!'_ " I remembered **(A/N: This actually happened to me)**. Elsa laughed as Black Beauty snorted shaking its head "What? Are you pouting?" I told my horse leaning closer to his neck "You want an apology for that, you big baby-boo? Huh?"

 ***BONK***

As an answer, Black Beauty shot his head up hitting my nose with the back of its neck.

"Ow! Hey!" I complained holding my nose as Elsa burst out laughing. Black whinnied like if he was laughing "And you stop laughing at me!" I said glaring at Elsa "Wait until Sitron smacks your nose with its neck, then we'll see" Elsa stopped laughing, rolling her eyes, but still smiled.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm good" I said then I noticed something "Hey, you didn't cover your mouth when laughing this time!" I pointed out. Elsa looked away embarrassed.

"Oh? Did I?" she said nervously glancing in front of her.

"Yup… finally" I said. She looked back at me quizzically "You need to loosen up a little bit more, you don't always have to play a part, in your case, the 'perfect girl' part. It's just you and me here, you wanna laugh openly? Do it!"

"It's kind of a habit now, and… it's not very queenly like to-"

"-Oh, give me a break! If you are on 'queen-mode' with your subjects looking up to you, then go along with the savoir faire and act like a queen. You are with your friends who see you for yourself, forget about it and be yourself" I said "I'm not saying you shouldn't have any manners, what I mean is that you don't have to be on strict etiquette all the time. Loosen up!" I said.

"Geez, Sky… you sound like Anna" she said frustrated.

"Good. Looks like I'm not the only one who wants to save you from becoming a complete… stick in the mud"

"Whoa, there! Hold it" she said stopping her horse with wide eyes " _Stick in the mud?_ Really?" she said holding back a smile.

"Yes. Really" I challenged.

"Okay, it's on Sky. From right now, it's on. I'll give you _'stick in the mud'_ , Heroine! Race you to the ice-harvesters"

"You're on, Ice Lady" I said.

"Good. I hope you're hungry, then" Elsa said. I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. 'Cause you're about to eat my _snow_!" and with that she kicked her horse and galloped away at full speed.

"That was the lamest pun I have ever heard, especially coming from the Snow Queen. Let's get her, Black!" I said and with that Black Beauty galloped right behind Sitron. In no time, I was right next to Elsa. She looked at me and smirked then she conjured a snowball and threw it at my face.

"Hey! That's cheating!" I complained lowering my head, dodging the snowball.

"I don't recall setting rules here" she answered smirking.

"Oh, really?" and with that I took out of my pocket two sugar cubes and threw them in front of Sitron's nose.

"SKYLYNN!" Elsa yelled as Sitron abruptly stopped and followed the sugar cubes, almost making Elsa fall off the horse. I laughed and kept going. Soon enough, though, Elsa was at my heels.

"You want to play dirty, Sky? Okay. You asked for it" and with that she started throwing snowballs at my head, missing every shot except for one that hit me right behind the head.

"Dang it, Elsa! You got snow in my shirt!" I complained trying to ignore the cold snow trickling down my back as it melted into water for my body heat.

"And I'll keep doing that, so suck it up" she shouted from behind coming closer to me.

"Ohhh, this means war!" and with that I slowed down Black so that he ran basically half a foot away from Sitron, shoveling the snow beneath his hoofs in Sitron's face, as he ran AND, Elsa couldn't get ahead of us now. "Come on, Black. Show her what you got!" I said, and with that Black Beauty huffed with determination, and galloped even faster… and that was when Elsa swiftly moved to the side and struck Black Beauty's hoofs with her ice powers, locking him to the ground with ice 'shackles'… while I flew off of my horse landing in the snow flat on my back. Elsa only took a few feet forward and stopped Sitron looking back at me worriedly.

"Oh my gosh! Sky, are you okay?" she asked concerned.

"You got more snow in my shirt…" I complained getting up and Black beauty tried to break free from the ice, as I dusted the snow off of me. Elsa let out a small smile, realizing I was okay.

"I'm so sorry. I should have thought about it before stopping your horse like that"

"You didn't think before acting? Now I'm really thinking over the advantage of our alliance" I said jokingly.

"Oh-ha-ha…" Elsa said "Seriously, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, really" I answered

"I'm feeling really bad about it, is there any way I can make it up to you?" she asked. A great idea came into my mind "- Except for training my soldiers as a hobby" Elsa preceded. My grin faded.

"Oh, come on!"

"Sorry, you need to work for that"

"How much trust do I need to earn on your 'Trust-Scale' before I can do that?"

"On a scale from 1 to 10, it's a 10"

"Good, and I am on which point?"

"Probably on a 5" I smirked

"Okay, I can work on that" I said "Now, we had a race going on, do you mind thawing Black's legs?" I asked Elsa, she chuckled and with a flick of her wrist, she thawed three of Black Beauty's legs. "You missed one"

"Sorry, no one said I had to be 100% fair in this race. See you at the Ice Harvesting grounds!" and with a smirk Elsa galloped away on Sitron.

"You cheater…" I mumbled "Come on, Black! You can break free from that" I said as Black Beauty struggled to get his hoof out of the ice. I took out my dagger and hit the ice a few times before cracking it, then I put it back and with a final pull, Black got the hoof out of the ice. "Oh, yeah! Now we're in business!" I cheered and got back on my horse as he knelt down a bit, so that I could quickly get on his back "Let's get her!" and we broke into a full run. Elsa was ahead of us, running at full speed. Black and I were further behind, but we were slowly gaining ground. As we ran up ahead, I noticed a small forest covered in snow. That meant the ice harvesting grounds weren't too far off.

"There's the forest! Come on, Black! Show Her Majesty how fast you can run" I encouraged. Black whinnied and sped up. Elsa wasn't too far away now, just a few feet away.

"You don't give up, do you?" she said looking back at me with a smirk on her lips.

"And you came to that conclusion _now_?" Then I noticed where she was heading, directly into the woods. Mental alarms immediately started to ring in my head like crazy. When Landon died, we took the shortcut to Shergan which was in the woods. When we were at war, we usually would hide in the woods for surprise assaults. If there was one thing the war and Landon's death taught me, was to never _EVER_ get into the woods, unless if necessary. Especially when we were just in two. Yeah, Elsa has her powers, but she wouldn't hurt a fly and I may be a warrior, but I'm not invincible. War is 75% skill and motivation, 10% strategy, 10% pain and 5% luck, and usually luck is the only percentage missing, and, if Drakora's old saying my mom used to tell me is true: _'Luck is blind but Misfortune sees you clearly'_ , a forest is the last place you should go on your own, even if the ice harvesting grounds were not even a mile away.

"Elsa, stop!" I called.

"What? Does the _Great Heroine_ surrender to the Queen of Arendelle?" she said jokingly.

"Elsa, you have to stop!" I answered seriously.

"I'm not falling for it!" she said with a laugh as we got closer to the woods.

"I'm not tricking you! Don't go into the woods! Let's go around it"

"To buy you time to win? Not a chance"

"Elsa, I'm serious! Listen to me! Stop!" But she didn't listen, she went straight into the woods. I couldn't leave her alone, but Black Beauty stopped right in front of the woods. Stomping his hoof.

 _I'm not going in there._ he seemed to say. Usually I would never ignore my horse's signals, however, the Idiot a.k.a. Elsa, forced me to do so.

"We can't leave her alone in there. Go, Black. Everything's going to be fine" I reassured. Black seemed a bit reluctant, but he cantered inside as well as we followed Elsa, but I could sense his nervousness. Something wasn't right. Elsa was cantering in front of us, when Sitron slowed down to a halt and soon after Black Beauty did the same as we reached the queen.

"Come on, Sitron. Go!" Elsa encouraged, but Sitron seemed nervous, he had his head shot up and then he started stomping his hoof and lightly stood on his posterior legs as if he was taking small jumps. "Hey! Down, boy" Elsa tried to soothe him. But Black Beauty was doing about the same thing, only that he started whinnying.

 _I sense danger. Let's get out of here!_ He seemed to say.

"Sitron, calm down. Skylynn, what's going on?" Elsa said getting worried as well.

"We need to get out of here" I said, but the moment I finished the sentence an arrow flew a few inches away from Sitron's head, sticking into the ground. That was when Sitron snapped. He whinnied in fear and before Elsa could hold onto her saddle, Sitron stood on his back legs abruptly throwing her onto the ground, making her hit her head hard. Unfortunately, the woods were thick, which meant that there wasn't enough snow to grant a soft landing.

"Elsa!" I called as I saw her lying unconscious on the ground, but before I could dismount, someone jumped on me pushing me off Black Beauty and onto the ground. As I rolled to the ground, my attacker grabbed my wrists blocking me, but Black Beauty quickly turned around and kicked him off of me, knocking him out.  
"Thanks, pal" I said getting back up and rushed to Elsa. But before I could check if she was fine, I saw other men appear. Some were big and buff, others thinner and shorter, all dressed in a winter attire, armed. They started circling me, their swords and daggers drawn and their eyes darting from Elsa to me. Then it hit me, it wasn't me they wanted. It was Elsa. That's why the arrow didn't hit her, it wasn't _supposed_ to hit her. Because of her powers, they had to knock her out first.

"You want the queen? You have to go through me, first" I said glaring at them, drawing my sword out.

"With pleasure" the biggest thug said and nodded to the others. Quickly, one at a time, they lashed at me. I tried to keep them away from Elsa. Parrying and counterattacking, I tried to keep them away, but they outnumbered me and they were giving me little time to gain my breath back. But my message was perfectly clear and so was their response: they were going to kill me first to get their paws on Elsa, but I wasn't going to let them. I fought back with all my strength and I was actually winning. I was not backing down. I had many reasons not to. Hans's life indirectly depended on Elsa's, my kingdom's safety depended on our alliance and if I fail all finger would point to the Westerguard siblings, even if they knew better. These were an example. I had managed to wound some of the men, but they just wouldn't quit. One stroke me, but I dodged going around him and swiping him off his feet, only to parry another blow from another. As much as I hate to admit it, Storm's company would have been nice right now. Luckily for me, Black Beauty was trying to keep the soldiers away from me, he kicked and bit whenever one of them got either close to me or close to him to stop him, somehow.

"Come on, boys! She's just a girl!" one said.

"Yeah! A girl who's kicking our asses!" another answered angrily. The fight went on, but things went downhill when one of them took out a rope and caught Black Beauty, holding him back with another guy and I was growing tired. I had just knocked one to the ground, but before I could move away, one of the men quickly grabbed me from behind and immediately another thug grabbed my left arm knocking my sword out of my hand and while the first one moved and blocked my other arm. I struggled with all my strength to break free, but they were too strong.

"We got her!" Thug 1 said.

"Finally!" Thug 2 exclaimed

"What do we do with her, boss?" Thug 3 asked, while the others held Sitron and Black Beauty as they struggled to break free, whinnying and stomping their hooves .

"We frame her" said the guy who looked like their leader. The others sneakered with malice glancing at one another. The leader walked closer to me and picked up my sword from the ground. He looked at it examining it. He was going to kill Elsa with my sword, my weapon was unmistakable. It was the one Storm gave me before our last battle together. Its golden hilt had Drakora's symbol craved on it: a dragon who's long body formed an elegant D that stood for _Drakuyiir_ , which means _'Drakora'_ in Drakorian. On its handle, the hilt was carefully wrapped in light bronze colored leather, to give more comfort while holding it, but when it got dirty, especially if blood stained, it took forever to clean it. They were going to kill Elsa with my sword and stain the leather handle with her blood to frame me.  
The thug took one step towards Elsa.

"You lay one finger on Queen Elsa and I swear that-"

"-What?" their leader said "You're in no position to do any threatening, _Queen_ Skylynn" he said, mocking me on the word 'queen'. He sneakered "Thank you for granting us our 50.000 crowns"

"May I remind you that I was kicking your asses not too long ago?" I snapped with a smirk. He glared at me.

"You won't be so sassy once we're done with the job and Princess Anna will want your head on a silver plate, along with that of that brother of yours" he snapped "Especially since-well… _you_ killed her beloved sister"

"Boss, she's stirring" one of the men noticed.

"Well, it was nice talking to you, but there's a job I need to finish" he mocked.

"Wait until I get my hands on you-"

"-That will be too late, then" and he walked closer to Elsa. She had moved her head a little, but was probably still more unconscious than awake. I tried to yell and call for help, but before I could let my voice out, Thug 1 roughly covered my mouth with his gloved hand. I struggled to break free, but the two men were strong.  
 _Think, Sky! Quick! Think! Think! Think!_ Their leader stood upon Elsa, as if studying her.

"Sorry, your Majesty. Nothing personal, it's just business" he said and raised my sword, but before he could strike, out of nowhere a stone flew in air, hitting the thug in the head. He lowered his sword and staggered away from Elsa "OW! What the-"

"HEY!" someone shouted, but I immediately recognized the voice. In that moment, Hans revealed himself from his hiding spot "Maybe you should pick on someone your own size!" he provoked walking towards the angry thug. The guy tried to hit Hans with the sword, but Hans was more than capable of taking care of himself. I used the distraction my brother provided immediately. I kicked Thug 1 in the shin and as soon as he let go of me I punched Thug 2 in the face. Meanwhile, Hans had taken my sword back and thrown Thugs' Leader to the ground.

"Sky" he called and tossed me the sword, taking out a knife, probably used for cutting stuff while ice harvesting.

"Kill them! Kill them all!" the leader shouted and the fight was on once again, but this time, they wanted us dead more than ever. For a moment, I was back in battle. I remembered the ambushes, Storm and Landon by my side, the gun and cannon shots, the clanking of swords as people fought for their lives, the blood, the cries, the rebellion… all in a fight with mere rouges. Hans and I fought side by side, holding them back.

"Hans, they want to kill Elsa!" I informed him as we fought. Those men weren't going to stop until we were dead, there was no other option but kill them too, just like during the revolution. As we fought, Hans had managed to throw the two men he was fighting on the ground, but the moment I turned around, I stared in horror at what happened in a split of a second. The thug Black Beauty had knocked out had regained consciousness and had made his way towards Elsa, while Hans and I were fighting. His sword was up and was about to strike on the queen, when Hans had thrown himself on the scene and jumped between Elsa and the sword, shielding her with his body and tackling the man on the ground with so much force that, as he fell the thug hit his head on a rock, dying on impact. But as Hans did that, the sword had managed to hit him on the arm as he intercepted the weapon that was about to kill off Elsa. I was about to rush to his aid, but the thugs wouldn't let me. Their leader fell immediately as my sword pierced through him. The 3 men out of 5, who were still alive, watched as their leader fell as soon as they were back on their feet or ready to strike again. Luckily for them, as soon as they saw their leader dead, they all ran away and vanished into the woods.  
I put my sword back in its sheath and immediately rushed to my brother's aid as he was still laying on the ground.

"Hans" I called kneeling next to him "Hans, you're bleeding! Where did he wound you?" I asked him. Then I immediately turned around towards Elsa "Elsa" I called softly shaking her lightly "Elsa, are you okay? Wake up" In a moment, our funny race had almost turned into tragedy.

"My head…" Elsa mumbled lifting a hand to the back of her head as I helped her to sit up.

"How are you feeling?" I asked her.

"Like an iron anvil fell on my head" she said rubbing her temples.

"Not surprised about that, it was a hard fall" I said, managing to get her to give me a small smile.

"Last thing I remember was falling off Sitron and glimpses of things like… a guy raising a sword upon me and… you fighting alongside… Hans?" she said as if realizing he was there for the first time. The moment, she saw my brother on the ground bleeding she started looking around disoriented, but noticed the battle scene in front of her and the two dead bodies.

"What happened?!" she asked in confusion "There are two dead men- Hans is bleeding and-" she looked at me confused and shocked at the same time "Sky, your jacket is blood stained" she said

"It's not mine" and by the look in her eyes, I didn't need to add anything more.

"But I remember a man who was about to kill me… what happened?" she asked

"Skylynn saved you, Queen Elsa" Hans said sitting back up, before I could open my mouth and tell Elsa what happened.

"Are you okay?" I asked him, putting a hand on his shoulder, but surprised at his answer.

"I'll probably need a few stitches, but I'm fine" he said, then he turned back to Elsa "Kristoff sent me to get some wood to repair one of the lifting machines, I heard the horses and swords clanking and saw what was going on so I rushed here to help Skylynn. It was another attempted regicide, your Majesty" Hans said

"Someone wants you dead, Elsa and offered those guys 50,000 crowns. That's what they said running away" I added giving Hans the _'we'll-talk-later'_ look. Elsa shook her head and rubbed her eyes for a moment, then looked back at me.

"You were right, Sky" Elsa said still looking disoriented and placing her hand on the back of her head where she hit the ground. "I should have listened to you"

"It's alright, the important thing is that they didn't succeed in their task" I said reassuringly "But from now on, remember: you're never _ever_ to go in the woods alone or escorted, unless it's the only way to go somewhere. Okay?" I said.

"Okay" Elsa said with a small understanding nod.

"Come, we must go" Hans said seriously, standing up "Her Majesty will be safer back at the palace and it'd be wise to call a doctor for a checkup"

"But-" Elsa tried to complain, but I cut her off.

"- Hans is right. He is to be patched up too and since we're not doctors you could have a concussion, for all we know" I said. Elsa rolled her eyes, but nodded, standing up as well.

I turned around for a moment, and saw Sitron sniffling and nuzzling his muzzle on Hans' face as he recognized his master. Hans cuddled him for a moment and then came back to over leading Sitron to us as Black Beauty trailed behind. Hans then mounted on the horse, leaving some space in front of him and held his hand out for Elsa to take it, but the moment he did she hesitated.

"I may not be a doctor, but someone who has just passed out is in no condition of riding a horse on her own" he said, and he had a point. Elsa looked at Hans' hand then to him, and then back at me.

"I'll be right behind you" I said reassuringly. With still some hesitation, she took his hand and mounted Sitron, sitting in front of Hans. I got back to Black Beauty, cutting the rope the thugs had thrown around his neck, and got back on soon making our way back to the palace. No one dared to speak. No one knew what to say. The tension in the air was thick, but for once it wasn't Elsa's discomfort around Hans, or rather being close to Hans, it was knowing that someone had paid some criminals to kill the queen. Hans and I exchanged looks only once as we were both thinking the same thing, but he abruptly glance away when he realized that my look also referred to something else: Hans had saved Elsa's life and had given me the credit. He better have a good explanation for it.

* * *

 **And there you have it! I hope I didn't bore you with this chapter. What do you think of Skylynn and Storm? What are your thoughts about their past? What are your thoughts on Elsa here? Most importanly: what about Hans? Why do you think he gave Skylynn credit for saving Elsa's life?  
Let me know with your reviews!**

 **The !Guess the Quote Challenge! I told you about on the last chapter is still up. Can you find all the movies' and series' quotes? I hope I didn't unintentionally quote movies I never watched, those do not count. In this chapter there is a videogame quote: can you guess it?  
If you catch all the (intended) quotes from this and the last chapter, I'll PM you a sneak peek of Friday's chapter!**

 **See you on Friday!  
Thank you for reading!**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	15. Different Light Different Eyes

**Skylynn's POV:**

As soon as we got back to the palace, the only reason why soldiers and servants did not assault Hans was because although still a bit dazed Elsa was awake and vigilant and told them it was fine, but the fact that the queen was being carried back to the castle by the Westerguard siblings was not going by unnoticed especially since Hans's arm was wounded and I had a bloody jacket. More than once some servants and guards offered to take Elsa to her quarters to wait for the physician, but she politely refused. When some asked what happened all I answered was 'a riding incident'. We all knew that for now it was best to remain quiet about what happened, as it was best not to take Elsa to her quarters for now. Had it been just me, it wouldn't have been a problem, but being Hans with us, that was not going to look good. Therefore, we decided to take her to her study. When the royal physician came to check on Elsa he got the same responses: Elsa had fallen off the horse, Hans hurt himself trying to help and my jacket was bloody because it got stained when I helped Hans up. The physician seemed skeptical, but he let that slide and got to work as Elsa nodded that it was the truth. As he was done checking on Elsa and patch up Hans he left the room leaving me with my brother and the queen, who was holding a self-made pack of ice on the back of her head, luckily no concussion.

"Well, there's no reason for me to stay here. Its better if I head back, before Kristoff thinks I ran away" Hans said. I nodded at him.

"Yeah, thanks for helping" I told him, though I sent him a look he purposely refused to meet.

"Hold on. Sky, hold this for me?" Elsa said getting up from the armchair and heading to the desk in her room, giving me her pack of ice. She opened a drawer and took out a paper, then, she took her quill and started writing on it. When she finished writing, she put the quill back down and rolled the paper. Then Elsa straightened back up and walked to Hans handing him the paper.

"Give this to Kristoff, it's the explanation to your prolonged absence. My signature's on it, so it should do" she said. They looked at each other for a moment, as trying to read one another. Hans was hesitating for some reason and Elsa noticed "You helped Skylynn and I, this is just my way of thanking you"

"What if Kristoff thinks that I made this?" Hans asked.

"He's seen my handwriting and signature, before. Don't worry" Elsa said. Hans hesitated again for a moment, then he lowered his gaze and took the paper.

"Thank you" he said.

"Don't mention it" she said before calling the guards and telling them to escort him back to the ice harvesting grounds. Then Hans bowed to her, gave me a nod of the head and walked out of the room with two guards at his sides. As soon as he was out, Elsa and I remained alone in silence. I gave her the ice pack back as she sat back on the armchair, while I remained standing up.

"So" I started, breaking the ice (no pun intended) "This wasn't exactly my idea of a fun ride, but it could have been worse"

"Yeah… if it weren't for you I could be dead, right now" she said with a small smile

"Yeah…" I muttered, not really liking the idea of taking credit for something I didn't do.

"Thank you, Skylynn. We're even now" she said.

"Don't thank me" I said before thinking, good thing she took it in another way

"Oh, right! I keep forgetting you're not just a queen, you're a soldier and saving lives is classified as 'duty', right?" I gave a small smile.

"Pretty much, yes" I said, sharing a small laugh "Well… I guess I'll go. You heard the doctor: you need to rest for today. You should head back to your quarters. Do you want me to walk you there?" I asked, heading to the chair on the other side of her desk to get my jacket.

"No, it's fine" she answered.

"Do you want me to call Storm so he can walk you there?" I said with a smirk trying to lighten up the mood. Elsa smiled a bit.

"Stop it, and no, really, it's fine. I can go there on my own" she said.

"Alright. I'll be on my way then" I said picking up my jacket and heading towards the door.

"Sky" Elsa called before I could touch the doorknob "May I talk to you for a moment?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure" I said sitting down on the armchair, in front of her. We remained silent for a few seconds, then Elsa spoke up.

"Even if you consider this as duty, I just wanted to say: thank you, for saving my life today" she said. I was about to complain, but if Hans didn't want her to know it was him, I'd like to know why before telling her the truth.

"As you said: duty" I answered. There was another moment of silence. Elsa's eyes were thoughtful, I felt that she wasnted to ask me something else, but she was looking for the right words. The moment she removed the ice pack form her head and thawed it, was the moment Elsa decided to speak again.

"Sky, about today… when you told me that blood on your jacket wasn't yours…" I had already understood where this was going, and we both knew that she already knew the answer "I suppose you have… _killed_ before?" she asked. I gave her a resigned half smile.

"Elsa, I've been in a year-long rebellion, a war. It was _kill_ or _be_ _killed_ , so yes, I have killed before… many, many times" I answered. Elsa looked at me as if unsure on how to say her next words.

"The first time" she started "How…-"

"-How was it?" I suggested, knowing this was exactly the question. She hesitated before answering.

"Yeah" I took a deep breath remembering my first battle, the first time my sword had tasted blood.

"It's different from when you kill someone in a 'calmer' situation, than it is in battle" I started "It was all a blur. When you see waves of trained soldiers ready to kill you, running towards you, you have just one thing in mind: survival. You know you can't back down, so you just go forward and fight for your life until it's over. Your heart beats so fast you can almost feel it against your armor. The rush of adrenaline is so strong, that you don't really look at the situation, you just act trying to survive… after sometime, the adrenaline rushes can become addicting… its… a fatal attraction" I paused

"The first time I killed I didn't really feel anything, it just happened" I continued "One moment, I was standing in position with my comrades and the next, I was covered in blood, dirt and sweat, surrounded by corpses and destruction, with the other rebels cheering in victory… it's when you realize that that blood is not yours… _that's_ when you start feeling something. Precisely, when you look at your feet and see the dead body of the last enemies you slayed, with their blood covering your sword and a red pool widening around their corpses…In that moment you realize that you have killed… ended more than one person's life, that's the worst part" I paused remembering what I had felt that day "You feel sick, you feel like you've been punched in the gut by a hundred men and numb at the same time and you can't help but ask yourself: _what have I done?!_ … Then you get used to it" I told her, remembering Storm's words after my first battle. Those words of comfort still vivid in my mind "But it's something I would never wish to anyone, Elsa. Even if the circumstances needed killing for survival and- or- for a good cause, it is something that you will never be proud of" I finished. Elsa remained silent for a moment.

"How do you cope with it? You said that you got used to it, but… how? How is it possible to do so?" she asked. I sadly shugged.

"You just do. Killing is killing, whether it is for self-defense or to survive a battle, or to protect someone, you end someone else's life. You just have to see the situation rationally, you need to tell yourself _'I killed, it's done, I can't take it back'_. You learn to be cynic and when you learn to be that, you learn not to feel anything from the killing, anymore. You just have to put it behind yourself and look forward" I paused and glanced at the blonde woman in front of me. I knew she was trying to process my words, it was clear that 'killing' and 'just put it behind you' were two concepts she found hard to believe to be found in the same sentence

"Do you want to know why I want to revoke death penalty in my country?" I asked breaking the silence once more "It's because I am the one who orders the executions. People die because I have decided that they deserve it, but who am I to judge who should live and should die? I am no one… but tradition is tradition and my people aren't ready yet to let that go. Heck- in Drakora women bid their goodbyes to their husbands, brothers or sons by saying _'Come back with your shield or on it'_! Especially in war, there is no place for tenderness, as it is seen as a sign of weakness, only the strong and the hard can call themselves 'Drakorians'… this is a custom that has been going on for centuries, it's the hardest to let go of" I said. Elsa turned her gaze away from me, finding some sort of interest in the floor.

"I can see why you're Anna idol" Elsa said "I don't think I'd ever be able to kill under any circumstances. I wouldn't be able to cope with it, which is exactly why I revoked death penalty immediately" she paused for a moment "Wow… you are so much different from me, yet, part of me can't help but admire you"

"Thank you, but we are not that much different" I replied.

"What do you mean?" she asked looking at me surprised.

"Elsa, I may have killed in battle, but you froze a whole kingdom. How many people died because of the cold? That's your doing" I told her. Elsa looked at me shocked as if realization had just hit her. "If your kingdom will ever go to war – and let's hope it doesn't- you will have to come up with a strategy and your soldiers will kill, but _you_ are the one who gave the order. The deaths of your men and opponent's soldiers will be on you" Elsa looked down, processing my words.

"I… I never thought about it" she admitted almost at loss of words.

"See? We are different, no doubt, but not so much" I said.

"Those people who died during the Eternal Winter… they died because of me" Elsa said shocked. She inhaled deeply and lowered her gaze "I guess, Hans was right… I am a monster"

"No" I told her. Elsa looked up at me meeting my gaze "You are not a monster. Trust me, Elsa, you are very far from being one. I killed in a battlefield, face to face, I knew what I was doing. During some undercover missions I cold-bloodedly assassinated some noblemen who supported the fake king; Landon's orders were to make sure they did not give Hugh their personal troops. There were many options to do so, but I _chose_ assassination. When my husband was murdered, I killed his murderer with the intention of doing so. You caused some people's death because you couldn't control your powers, but you meant no harm. The only reason you lost control was because you were taught not to use your magic and to fear it. Our actions had the same result but in a different way". Another heavy silence filled the room and Elsa's gaze lowered even more as she thought over what I had just said.

"On the North Mountain I was about to kill two people, Skylynn. They were trying to kill me, but I had them cornered with my powers, I could have stopped, but I didn't" she confessed

"But did you kill them?" I replied

"I probably would have, if it weren't for Hans he… he made me realize what I was doing" she admitted "But he wasn't trying to stop me, he was just playing his part of brave heroic prince" she replied looking back up at me.

"I suppose he told you so" I said.

"Yes, when I first went to see him in the dungeons"

"Why don't you go talk to him again? He said many things back then, but meant none of it" Elsa remained silent, so I shifted forward on the armchair and placed a hand on her forearm giving her a reassuring squeeze. Anna had told me once that she wasn't really okay with people touching her hands since it was there that she shot her magic.

"Trust me on this" I told her getting her attention "You are way too good for your own good to be a monster. Your people love you and what you are doing for them right now is something to admire. Believe me, not many monarchs really understand the importance of the middle and working class, especially those that come from royalty like you. Plus" I continued "I may be Anna's idol, but _you_ are her heroine"

"How would you you know that?" she asked "I shut her out for 13 years to protect her and I only ended up hurting her. It was an accident, but I froze her heart. She could have died because of me. Now that I look at it, it seems like the more I tried to protect her, the more I ended up hurting her"

"Maybe it was the wrong way, but you isolated yourself because you couldn't control your powers and didn't want to hurt her. You basically gave up your chances at happiness for her safety and Anna knows that. Not many older siblings that have a good relationship with their younger one would have that much power of will to pay such a price for so long. What if Anna had given up on you and started to actually hate you for ignoring her? I bet you would have paid that price too if it meant to keep her safe" I said "But now you two are back together and trust me, whenever I meet Anna around the castle and we have a chat, she actually doesn't shut up about how amazing her big sister is and how much fun she has with you when you have your bonding times"

"Really?" she asked somehow surprised by this.

"Really" I confirmed smiling at her "You are no monster, Elsa. You just have an ability that requires a… ridiculously _huge_ amount of attention, but you're perfectly normal. I don't even know how you can actually manage it, it's incredible. You don't have to be a warrior to be Anna's heroine, you're her heroine because you're her sister and the ice powers are just a bonus to her" there was a small moment of silence.

"Thank you, Sky" Elsa said with a small smile. I knew what she was thanking me for, it wasn't just for the comfort, there was recognition. Elsa and I remained for a few seconds in a comfortable silence. In that moment we both knew that from that day on, Elsa and I would have finally seen each other under a different light. Just like when we were riding, it didn't feel like we were two young queens going for a ride, but two girls having fun. In that moment we were back to being those two girls having a heart to heart moment.  
Suddenly the door to the room sprung open and our heads snapped up to see Anna enter the room with her eyes screaming 'WORRY!'. She immediately rushed to Elsa embracing her in a tight hug.

"Elsa! I met Hans a second before he went back to the ice harvesting grounds and he told me what happened! Are you okay?! Are you hurt?! Gosh! I was so worried!" Anna said worriedly in a breath, as she held her elder sister tightly, sitting on the armchair's arm. Let me rephrase what I said earlier: it was best to remain quiet about what happen, but Anna and Kristoff had to know.

"I'm fine, Anna. I just have bump –ow!- there" she complained as Anna had ran a hand through her hair.

"Sorry" the redhead apologized.

"It's okay. It's just a bump on the head. I'm fine" she said. Anna gave her another hug, kissing her cheek and then turned to me as I stood up ready to leave.

"Thank you for saving her life, Sky" Anna said getting up and giving me a tight hug, as I awkwardly patted her back not really expecting the embrace.

"Don't thank me" I said, and immediately regretted it. _Nice job, Sky! Why don't you just tell them the truth before speaking to your brother, you idiot?_

"Why not?" Anna asked confused "You saved her, that's what your brother said"

"Her sword was at my service, remember? To her it ends up in the ' _Soldier List of Duties_ '" Elsa said glancing at me with a teasing smirk.

"What can I say? I'm a general and an admiral other than a queen" I said in the same joking manner.

"General, Admiral and Queen? And I say _you_ work too much" Anna said jokingly to Elsa. We all cracked a small laugh, then I excused myself, grabbed my jacket and got out of the room leaving the two sisters to their sibling time. But tonight, when Hans came back, we were definitely going to have a talk.

* * *

 **Hans' POV:**

Turns out Elsa was right. When I showed him the paper, Kristoff didn't bother me with my prolonged absence, but the third degree started anyway, with all the questions being about Elsa's safety. After that attempt the queen's life, I had gotten back to work, following my usual routine, but in my mind I couldn't stop thinking about what Skylynn had said, what she added when I explained Elsa what had just happened. Someone had offered them 50,000kr. to kill Elsa. Someone wanted her dead and according to the sum, it could have been only someone from the aristocracy, especially after her showdown during that council meeting. Fortunately, Kristoff was smart enough not to announce it to the world, only letting the curious ice-harvesters know that I helped the Queen of Arendelle and the Queen of Drakora during a 'riding incident'. When I got back from the mountains, I headed to my room, had my bandages changed, put on a more comfortable shirt and then laid on my bed, thinking, but as soon as I got comfortable, there was an all too familiar knock on the door.

"Come in, Tiger" I said and Skylynn immediately came inside the room "Don't tell me. We have to talk" I preceded.

"So you do know why I'm here" Skylynn said standing in the middle of the room, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You can be very predictable on some things, but when it comes to talks? Not so much, but I suppose you want to talk about today" I said sitting straight up and then standing up walking to the window and leaning on its frame.

"Why did you lie to her? Why didn't you allow me to tell Elsa it was you who saved her?" she asked. I exhaled deeply.

"It's better off like this" I answered crossing my arms.

"Hans, talk and don't give me that _'it's better off like this'_ crap, because I'm not getting out of this room until you do. We already talked about this: you don't need to hide from me, so spill it" she said bossily "Why did you lie to Elsa… again?" she repeated. I took a deep breath and turned around facing the window.

"I don't want her to feel like she owes me" he confessed.

"Hans, what you just did today could be the first step for the sisters _and_ the people of Arendelle to see you differently" she said "You saved their queen"

"But I also tried to kill her" I said "Neither of them owes me anything. Elsa and Anna have good hearts and I don't want them to give me any more undeserved mercy"

"Hans, you _saved_ Elsa's life" Skylynn insisted " _You_ saved her. When word of the assassination attempt will come out, you can't expect me to sit around and take credit for something I didn't do! _You_ are the one who _saved_ Arendelle's queen. People have to know, you are not the man that deceived them"

"It doesn't change the fact that I tried to kill Elsa and left Anna to freeze to death" I said "To what purpose should the royal sisters and the people know? I fooled a whole country, for all they know, I could have done that to deceive them once more… Plus" I continued, turning back around "I don't want Elsa to feel like she owes me and you need her to trust you. If Elsa thinks you were the one who saved her life, she is going to eventually give you her full trust. In the end it's a good thing I gave you credit for this" Skylynn took a deep breath, shaking her head. She didn't like taking credit for something she didn't do, but she knew I was right. She needed Elsa's trust and this was the best way to get it, but by the disapproving look in her eyes I could see she felt dirty at the very idea of being glorified for something that wasn't her doing.  
Suddenly we heard a knock on the door, it was Kai, the butler, who was calling Skylynn for dinner. My sister then walked to me giving me a hug and excusing herself, but as she was about to open the door.

"Sky" I called. She turned around, her grey eyes meeting my gaze "Promise me you won't tell Elsa, or Anna. Promise me you won't tell anyone the truth behind the queen's rescue" I said.

"Alright" she said with a look of disapproval "I promise"

"I'll see you tomorrow, Tiger" I said with a half-smile.

"See you tomorrow" she said and got out of the room, leaving me alone once again. Luckily for me my room had a small bookshelf so, at least I had something to do until I got sleepy. I walked to the bookshelf got the book I had started the other day, laid down on my bed and started reading. Reading was the only thing that actually relaxed me these days, it was the only way I could escape from the situation I was in, getting lost in thoughts imagining what could happen the more I read on the book, identifying myself with the characters, or at least think of myself as one. I was so immersed into the book that I didn't hear the door open, nor the light footsteps with a faint clicking of heels.

" _Pride and Prejudice_ , who would have thought _?_ " said Elsa reading the book's title, making me jump.

"Your Majesty!" I exclaimed jumping on my feet bowing as much as my aching back allowed me to "I-I wasn't expecting to see you! I would have made myself more presentable"

"It's okay. You're presentable enough. I'm sorry I startled you" she said in strangely kind voice. I remained quiet and watched her walk towards the armchair in front of the unlit fireplace "Please, take a seat" Elsa said motioning for the armchair in front of her. I didn't say anything, but put the bookmarker on the page I was reading, settled down the book and walked to her. As I got in front of her, our eyes met for a moment, then I sat down on the armchair in front of her, looking up at her, as she remained on her feet.

"We need to talk, Hans" she said " _Honestly_ , without masks this time, okay?" I looked up at her and met her gaze. Her crystal blue eyes gleaming with a new emotion: an honest will to listen. It was a look who's only eyes I've ever seen it in were Skylynn's.

"Alright" I said with my voice barely above a whisper.

"I want you to speak to me" she started "I want to hear your side of the story from you" she said. It wasn't a question. It was a request, so I just did. I told her my side of the story, everything, without lying. I told her about my brothers, how they mistreated Skylynn and I, how they would bully us and beat us up, how Theodore or my parents would never do anything, how alone my sister and I were and how Milah, Skylynn's mom, my first tutor back at the palace, was the only one that would actually care about us. I told her how 'home' wasn't home at all, how I've been searching my whole life to find my own place like Skylynn and how I thought I had found it in Arendelle.

"So you had the wonderful idea to come here in Arendelle and kill me to get my crown" Elsa said looking at me crossly.

"No" I said immediately "I was telling the truth when we spoke in the dungeons. I wanted to marry you to get the crown, but while talking to Anna and hearing some chats, I understood no one was getting anywhere with you"

"How would you know that?" she answered "You didn't even try" that sentence caught me completely off guard "You were so desperate for power and a spot-light that you didn't even try. Instead you had go and try to steal my crown, fool my people, hurt my sister, leave her to die and try to kill me, proving yourself to be just a _'lying, manipulative, power-hungry, sociopath'_ , to quote Skylynn talking to your brothers"

"I guess Sky was right… I should have been patient" I said, not daring to look at her in the eyes. Then I gathered my courage and dared to ask "If I did try, would I have had a chance?" I asked. Elsa remained quiet for a moment.

"You probably wouldn't be in this situation right now" she answered "You were right though, as much as I hate to admit it" My head snapped back up

"What?" I asked confused.

"I will eventually have to marry, but who would be crazy enough to marry the Snow Queen?" she said "I may not be a monster, but that's the way most people see me as"

"I don't" I said before I could stop myself. It was Elsa's turn to look at me shocked. I had caught her off guard and now it was too late to turn back "I don't see you as a monster, I never had" I looked down, tearing my green eyes away from her blue ones, not able to hold her gaze, feeling a knot in my stomach. "I lied to you, again" I said "I didn't mean a word of what I said about you… I don't think you're a monster, El- I mean, your Majesty, at all. I was lying. Like I was lying about the chandelier" I continued. Elsa remained silent, even when I lifted my head a bit to meet her observing eyes. I immediately lowered my gaze again and continued talking.

"When I saw you were about to kill those two other scumbags, I just… I saw you were about to do the biggest mistake of your life and… I couldn't let you do it. I couldn't let you become the monster they feared you were, the one I knew I was going to become to get what I wanted. The thought of playing hero had never actually crossed my mind, and when you turned around and looked at me… When I looked into your eyes, I saw just how scared you were and how much you feared hurting someone and were scared of yourself once again when you realized what you were doing" I looked up once again and noticed Elsa's impassive face, but her bright crystal blue eyes were a torrent of emotions. Surprise was the most visible. I had nailed it. I had read her like an open book.

"That's why I moved the crossbow… I lied again" I continued lowering my head "I was really trying to save you there" I confessed "I had seen the chandelier, but the probability that the arrow would have hit exactly where the chandelier was attached onto the ceiling without aiming were close to zero, so I moved it upwards. I bet that if I try it again, I wouldn't be able to do it once more" I said somehow managing to crack a small smile from both the queen and myself, I wasn't done though.

"In the dungeons, when you looked at me and told me you couldn't bring back summer, my plan started to falter the moment our eyes met. I knew you weren't lying; when I told you your sister hadn't returned, I saw how worried you were… and the way you begged me to let you go, I just… I realized that just like me, you too were misunderstood and treated as a villain when you weren't one bit. You didn't want to leave so you could go terrorize Arendelle, you wanted to leave to protect your kingdom by not making any further damages, all because you didn't believe in yourself, when your sister has a blind faith in you" I said. Elsa remained silent for a moment, not meeting my gaze either.

"Is this why you really were willing to kill and steal a kingdom? Not just because of your brothers" she said

"I did want to prove myself worthy to my brothers… truth is I really wanted to prove something more to myself. I wanted to prove to myself that they were wrong. That I wasn't weak, that I could be ruthless when needed, that I could be just like they wanted me to be… but by doing what I did, I only ended up proving to be weaker than they believe me to be" I confessed, running a hand through my hair, not daring to look at her as I felt that burning sensation in my stomach which I had finally understood what it was when I had that breakdown with Skylynn. It was shame… shame, guilt and remorse

"I hesitated when we were on the fjord" I continued "After those moments in the castle and the consciousness of what I was about to do, for a moment I hesitated. Don't take it as an offence but: how was I supposed to kill someone who was just like me in a way? I didn't want to, but then my stupid brothers came back to my mind and how finally I wouldn't have been looked down upon anymore and I just went for it: I had to finish what I had started. I hesitated so much that your sister had the time to run to you and put herself between you and my sword. Luckily I failed, though this is not an excuse, and now I'm facing the consequences of my foolish actions…" I said "I thought I had lost everything… that's why I wanted to die, I felt like… a waste of space. It took your words and Skylynn's to knock some sense into me. I will go through with this punishment, but I will do it for myself" another pregnant silence followed. The only sounds came from the soft wind outside, making the trees in the gardens lightly swoon.

"I saw you on the fjord" Elsa said quietly catching me off guard "And I know how you were feeling when you got imprisoned" she added. Elsa took a deep breath and met my gaze "I saw your reflection on the ice, but I didn't do anything because I too thought I had lost everything. For a moment nothing mattered to me anymore, I… I _wanted_ you to swing down that sword on me. I had frozen my kingdom, I couldn't control my powers, my people were afraid of me, they thought of me as a monster, they _saw_ me as one, and to top it all, _you_ told me Anna was dead. _You_ told me that the only person I loved, the only one who still loved me after all I did to her, was dead… what reason did I have to live anymore? For a moment, I _did_ lose everything. So… I just closed my eyes and waited for the sword" she confessed. I was the one who was shocked now, hearing her say that. Those were the last words I thought possible to come out of her mouth

"I understand very well how you felt when you got here and when you saw your sister" Elsa paused "When you feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders it can be hard to let people in… to trust them… even if they want what is best for you…" she paused for a moment and her blue eyes met my green ones with an unexpected gentle look "Sometimes it feels like it's too much, doesn't it? And even if you try to shut it out, it ends up hurting people too and in the end… you can't help but feel alone" she sadly admitted. I didn't say anything, taking in her words, realizing in that moment, how similar we were. She was shut in and I was shut out, we both had caring sisters who would have gone on top of the world for us and even though the feeling was mutual, in the end, no matter how strong our bond with our sibling was, we were both alone. Elsa didn't accept herself and I wasn't accepted by others.  
Elsa's tender gaze then suddenly hardened as she looked at me. Her walls immediately going back up.

"This doesn't mean that I'm going to be soft on you from now on" she said impassively "You still are a traitor, you still left my sister to die and used her, you still tried to steal my kingdom, you still tried to kill me, and you can't just walk away and forget about it, and you know something? What makes my resentment towards you worse, is that when you told me Anna was dead because of me… I actually _believed_ you right away, like I believed in your help in the dungeons. I asked you to take care of my sister. I _trusted_ you, Hans, like an _idiot_! Do you have any idea how _stupid_ that makes me feel?!" she accused making me shrink.

"This is not something that can be forgiven so easily, especially what you did to Anna" Elsa said "So, I'll be very clear on this: you're here to pay a debt with justice and it's up to me to decide when that debt has been paid, but forgiveness is something else. If you want that too, you're going to have to work really hard to get it because Anna will be the judge of your forgiveness since she's the one whom you wronged most. So until you earn _her_ forgiveness, you can forget about mine" she said with an angry firmness, making my guilt and remorse only grow. I looked to the floor.

"I don't blame you for being angry, I deserve it…"I said looking at the ground, then I looked up and met her gaze once again "I'm sorry"

Elsa had every right not to believe me, but I just had to tell her, I wanted her to hear me say it. There was a moment of silence, but the moment I said that and our eyes met, I knew something had changed between us, she knew that too. She wanted a conversation without masks and we had one. I was sure Elsa was going to try and let it slip and deny it all she wanted, but she too knew that for just a few moments, we had connected. What had changed was the way we were going to look at each other from now on, we were going to look at each other though different eyes, because we both knew that, apart from my sister, Elsa was going to do what no one has ever done for me: listen. In that moment realization had dawned on me: no one would listen… but _her_ , because no one but _her_ heard as the outcast hears.

* * *

 **And there you have it! So... what do you think? Good? Bad? What did you think of Elsa and Skylynn's talk? Will the two queens be great friends or will it be World War III? What did you think of Elsa and Hans's talk? What do you think is going to happen between them from now on**

 **Let me know with your reviews!  
Thank you all for reading!  
**

 **See you next Friday! ;-)**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	16. Contradicting

**PLEASE READ!  
Okay, so from this point on I've been re-writing the story, because as a Guest made me notice, I've been giving too much space to Skylynn. I have thought about this too, but apparently it actually took me someone telling me that I was screwing up the Helsa. I get it can't happen immediately, but at this point I nee to focus on Hans and Elsa. Skylynn will still be an important character, but she will not be as important as she was before. So this chapter is mostly Hans centric.  
I hope I didn't screw up again.  
**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Hans's POV:**  
From what I found out, somehow, someone heard of what really happened and soon enough in a few days, all of Arendelle knew of the assault to its queen and of how the brave queen of Drakora saved her life. I bet that when I returned to the ice-harvesting grounds someone must have overheard my conversation with Kristoff, or Anna might have let it slip. Obviously I had been kept in the dark of all things that happened after that. Actually, because I was getting better and there was no risk of me getting another serious infection, I had been moved back to the dungeons but fortunately, I had my sister filling me in with the news.  
At first, Sky gave me the cold shoulder. She hated taking credit for something she didn't was clear that she was dying to tell the royal sister that I was the one to save Elsa and not her. In the end, she spilled and told me what was going on now.  
Researches to find who was responsible for the assault immediately started, but unfortunately no one found anything, the only clue was the reward sum.

One evening, while I was already in my cell trying to get some sleep, I had another visit. This time though, I was surprised to see that my sister wasn't alone as Storm came in following her. I raised an eyebrow in her direction, panicking for a moment, feeling that she might have told Storm the truth on the queen's savior. When she replied with a tiny shake of the head, I felt nothing but relief.

"Why do I get the feeling this is no pleasure visit?" I asked after greeting them. Sky and Storm shared a look.

"Your sister took a break from being Elsa's bodyguard and we had a chat" Storm started. I glanced at Skylynn who just remained silent and lightly shook her head.

"Okay… what about?" I asked unsure.

"About the assault to the queen. Skylynn told me you helped her save Elsa and after we talked, we preferred to speak about this with you" he said.

"Meaning _I_ wanted to speak about this with you, since you were involved" Skylynn corrected. I glanced at them suspiciously.

"Since when are you two working together again?" I asked. Don't get me wrong. According to the letters Sky wrote me during the war, I knew they were a duo, but considering Storm's desertion, it was weird seeing them cooperating.

"We're not working together" Skylynn replied coldly "We only have a common interest in keeping Elsa alive" I raised my hands in defeat as Storm looked away, clearly restraining himself from replying.

"So, what's bothering you?" I asked them.

"It's that sum those goons were promised" Sky replied

"50,000 crowns right?"

"Exactly" she said "Only someone from the aristocracy or the rich middle class could afford it. In both cases, the situation is really bad. I seriously don't know which scenario would be worse" Sky paused

"If it is an aristocrat it must be one of the ex-ministers for sure, or some of them organizing a coup, and it must be related to what Elsa did during that 'famous' assembly and this could mean two things" Storm continued "It could either mean that they want to kill both Elsa and Anna and take control over Arendelle"

"Or it could mean that they want to kill just Elsa and put Anna on the throne and take over Arendelle by manipulating her taking advantage of her grieving state, which is definitely possible with a good brainwashing" Sky finished. I restrained myself from rolling my eyes at their finishing each other's sentence thing.

"As much as your theory fits, Anna is naïve, but not stupid. She will realize that is was the ministers" I replied

"Storm and I never said Anna was stupid! That's not what we meant" Sky said defensively "Look at the situation this way: if something happens to me, I am replaceable for Drakora. Angel can take my place, she had always been ready for it if it happened. But she is the Princess of _Drakora_ , a kingdom where war has always been a threat, a kingdom of warlords where the death of a crown prince is almost ordinary; the only place where there is space for tenderness and love is your home."

"Don't I know it?" Storm mumbled, in an agreeing complaint. Skylynn made a face in agreement, before letting Storm continue for her.

"Princess Angel grew up being prepared to take the throne just like King Landon" he said "Arendelle on the other hand is peaceful, always has been and hopefully always will be. They haven't had a war since… who was it? Anna and Elsa's great-great-grandfather?"

"Something like that, and almost all the wars it had were for self-defense" I said "Look, guys, I get your point: Anna may be smart, but she has not been prepared the same way Elsa has"

"Anna's still young and naïve" Skylynn said "She too may be a great queen, but-"

"-That's not going to happen until she grows up and matures" Storm ended "If the aristocrats kill Elsa: they could send Kristoff away, not being royalty yet, Anna would be at the aristocracy's mercy and by the time she will realize their scheme it will be too late. The damage will be done" Sky's grey eyes met Storms, confirming what he had just said.

"If the one behind this is one of the rich middle class it could mean just one thing" I said "Elsa hasn't completely been accepted by her people" Skylynn nodded in agreement

"Or maybe they disagree with some of the changes she did like that tax thing. You pay a tax depending on your profits, the more profits you have the higher the tax is, obviously respecting some limits" Storm suggested.

"No" I interrupted them "Strangely enough that's the only cause I would exclude. You wouldn't know, but the ice-harvesters are quite the gossipers. I know the law changes she made are in favor of both middle and working class. Of course, not everyone will be happy with those changes, but the great majority of the people approves. For those who don't agree with her, that would be the only thing they could hold against her, and let's face it: it's not enough to kill a ruler" I paused "The rich middle class might have not accepted her as well because of her powers. Another accidental eternal winter would be bad for business. They are still scared of her, and if they are scared of her, they will try to influence her people and-"

"-They will try to overthrow her" they interrupted in chorus "Storm and I already got to that!" Sky complained. I narrowed my eyes at them slightly irritated.

"So, if you two already got the only two possible conclusions: what the heck do you need me for?!" I said.

"Elsa put four guards under Skylynn's command and she already sent them undercover to find who attacked her and Elsa" Storm started "Elsa also gave me a few soldiers and I did the same, but we have a problem with the ice-harvesters"

"I suppose that's where I come in" I said crossing my arms.

"Yes" Sky replied "Hans, I wouldn't ask you if it wasn't necessary, but from what Kristoff told me, you guys are never in the same spot on the ice harvesting grounds. My men and I already have set up a system to pass information quickly but with the ice harvesters moving from one place to another it's not possible, same goes for Storm's men."

"We need you to be our infiltrate among the ice-harvesters" Storm said "Skylynn and I can't because someone needs to be at Elsa's side. After the assault, she can't be left alone at least not until we find out who sent those hit-men and I wouldn't trust anyone but Skylynn or myself with this task" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Alright. I'll do it, but correct me if I'm wrong, but this doesn't sound like just a security thing. If it was like that, you could have sent your men to follow Elsa around like shadows" I said "Sounds like Elsa is important enough to you both that you don't trust your men to be alone with her" Storm was about to open his mouth, but I cut him off "You're her suitor, Storm. It's your duty. I'm glad you're concerned with her well-being. I was mostly referring to my sister" I said glancing at Sky.

"Let's just say that it is in our best interests to keep Elsa alive. Her health state concerns me" Storm and I smirked for a moment.

"Come on, confess it." I said holding back a small laugh. Sky looked at me weirdly.

"Come on, say it" Storm said nudging her with his shoulder.

"Say what?" Sky asked confused.

"Just admit you finally made friends with Elsa" Storm said

"No. It's purely political business" she said furrowing her eyebrows.

"Come on, Sky. You know that caring about a friend is not a bad thing" I said. Skylynn looked at me.

"I only care about Elsa in terms of keeping her alive, because with her dead, I can kiss both you and my alliance with Arendelle goodbye and my kingdom is screwed! _That's_ why I care about Elsa" Sky said glaring at Storm and I , wiping our smirks. Then her irritated demeanor vanished and changed to a more shy one "But… yeah… I may also sort of made friends with her…" she reluctantly admitted. I smiled at her, but Storm and I both dropped the subject and returned to the topic.

"So, I take it as you and Storm are teaming up now" I said.

"Yes, we are" Sky said. Storm raised an eyebrow and glanced at her.

" _We_? Does that mean we're partners, now?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Well, you are courting the queen so, I'd say you don't have a choice but teaming up with me. After all, you can't court a woman when she's dead"

"You had me at the assault part, I was just surprised by your sudden change of mind in having me by your side" he replied

"Not by my side, by Elsa's side. That won't be too hard for you would it?" she remarked

"Absolutely not. But let me ask you something, I couldn't help but notice that every time you're with Elsa and I arrive, you always leave. Shall I take it positively or negatively, as in you trying to avoid me?"

"I trust you around her. I know you can take care of the situation if there was a second regicide attempt. I'm not avoiding you" Sky answered.

"Thank you, then. I am her suitor after all, protecting her and her sister it kind of is my duty now, which coincidentally it's also what King Theodore ordered me to do"

"He told you to stay here to protect her and her sister from me" I corrected with a glare even though it wasn't directed to him. I wasn't sure if I could say the same about my sister's.

"You, crazy aristocrats, suitor duty, whatever. The point remains the same" Storm countered. Sky shook her head.

"So, I take it is official then?" I asked after a moment of silence "You're courting the queen of Arendelle"

"I don't really know if it is official yet… but the thing is: I like her" Storm said and glanced at Skylynn who remained silent for a moment. It looked like Storm was moving on.

"Good luck then" it was all I could say.

"I really hope _she_ is lucky" Skylynn said, looking at Storm in the eyes. It was a warning look, a reminder of what he did during the Revolution "I got to go. Goodnight, Hans" she said and walked away.

"Sky wait" Storm pleaded, but she didn't look back and closed my cell door behind her, leaving me alone with Storm. Guilt was written all over his face. Part thought of him as a traitor, even though she knew he never really did actually betray them. That Storm wanted her to trust him again was obvious, but I knew that it would have been really hard for him to do that, almost impossible… and then there was Landon's shadow still following her, his presence was still in her heart.  
Storm glanced at me, waiting for me to go in Protective-Big-Brother mode and lecture him, but I didn't. There was no point, though I did have something to say.

"That's what happens when you betray someone's trust, and I'm telling you by experience" I said.

"I noticed…" was his response.

"How am I supposed to take the fact that you're trying to get my sister trust again? Do you miss your best friend or you haven't moved on yet?" I asked him crossing my arms.

"She married another man, Hans. Even if I still had feelings for her, clearly Skylynn never felt the same for me" he replied sadly "So to answer your questions: I miss my best friend, and I have moved on… it was just a crush" I rolled my eyes at his last statement.

"Yeah, right…" I mumbled "If you haven't betrayed her, tell her why. Don't avoid the problem, Storm. It won't take you anywhere" Storm kept his gaze on me waiting and spoke up only when he realized I was not going ask the question he was waiting for.

"You're not going to ask me why I left Drakora in the moment of need? Why I left your sister and my king?" he asked.

"It's not my trust you betrayed. This is between you and Skylynn… but I can tell that speaking to her about this is difficult and I won't press the matter" I replied meeting his gaze. Storm lightly nodded.

"Thank you"

"Don't mention it. Anyway, right now you need to work together, trust each other like you did on the battlefield" I said "And Storm, the hit-men might have not wanted Sky's life but they were more than ready to drag her into this mess and by sticking to Elsa's side she's exposing herself"

"I told her and she was already aware of it" Storm replied "You heard her: Elsa's survival is essential for keeping you alive and the stability of her kingdom. It's a risk she's willing to take"

"I know. Keep an eye out for her" I told him seriously.

"Always have and always will" Storm replied. I gave him a curt understanding nod, then Storm bid his goodbye and left me alone in my cell. I laid down on my bunk and closed my eyes drifting into sleep.  
The day after I did what I was asked: spy around. Now, the fact that I was the one being controlled had both a pro and a con. The bad thing was that everyone was watching me, waiting for me to make my wrong move as it was expected form an attempted murderer. The good news were that being I at the center of the attention, no one bothered to keep an eye out for possible suspects. That meant that if there was someone working with the hit-men the others were going to be too busy watching me to notice him, making my job easier.

The first day of spying around gave no results. The harvesters were hard workers and considering I was being punished, I was the one who was supposed be kept busy for the whole time. Other than that, no one seemed to be acting suspiciously. Day two was exactly the same. Everyone had their duties, everyone did them, Kristoff organized and ordered around, everyone followed him, everyone was giving me nasty looks. Nothing new. On the third day I was more than sure that I was going to tell my sister there was no threat coming from the ice harvesters. That they, though, was market day, meaning that it was Kristoff's turn and a few other ice harvesters to go to town and sell ice, that meant that he was taking me along. My job of course, did not consist in standing next to the sleigh and speak with customers, I was to unload the ice and cut it in whatever way the clients wanted it.

It was almost time for us to leave when I saw something. Among the people in the crowded marketplace I noticed a man: dark winter clothes, knife and sword, and I recognized his face. It was one of the surviving hit-men. He scanned around the marketplace for soldiers and then he quietly walked away, trying to blend into the crowd, heading towards an alleyway, away from indiscreet eyes. I looked towards Kristoff and the other men with him and saw they were too busy speaking with the customers to watch me. I had to risk it and sneak away now or I would have lost the man. Careful not to get their attention, I walked away and followed the guy, unlike him though, I had to sneak away from the crowd, since most people would have recognized me. Finally managed to follow the man into the alley, but apparently he hadn't reached his destination yet. Making sure not to get caught, I silently followed him into another alley way. There the man stopped. I immediately hid behind the corner, the moment he turned around. I waited a few second and slightly leaned forward to take a peek.

He stood there looking around. He was waiting for someone who was surely his other friend. I just stayed there for a couple of minutes. I knew that at this point Kristoff or the ice-harvesters must have been looking for me, but this was more important. I knew that if they thought I was doing something wrong my sister would have paid for it, but if I gave them the information they needed, no one was going to lay a finger on her. Suddenly I heard something behind me, I spun around and saw Kristoff popping out of the corner behind me and he was not happy. His large hand immediately came forward to hook on my coat.

"Where do-UMPF!" Kristoff did not get the chance to finish as I swiftly blocked his hand twisting it behind his back, used my knee to make him kneel on the ground and used my other hand to shut his mouth. I felt a tingle of pain on my back, but now it was just irritating. Kristoff on the other hand was shocked, clearly not expecting me to move so quickly, but-hey- if Sky is such a good fighter and I taught her, there must be a reason.

"Shh! The hit-men are here" I whispered in his ear before he could fight back. That got his attention and I let go of him.

"What? You followed the hit-men?" he said keeping his voice down, standing back up.

"Take a look and shut up" I said quietly. Kristoff glared at me and we both looked back where the assassin was. He was still waiting. Then we heard a voice and the man faced the other way. Another guy dressed the same way walked to him, looking around for anything suspicious. I recognized them both. Kristoff and I shared a look and kept looking.

"So, what news from our clients?" the one I followed said.

"The mediator said they're not happy, mate" the other said "But added that if we're still up for the job they'll be willing to raise the sum to 100,000 kr. at the condition that we take care of another problem" the other man whistled.

"50,000 kr. each… sounds good. Let's do this" he said. The second man shook his head, clearly not convinced about this "Meet me at the Old Mill in two hours. We'll discuss the plan there"

"Fine, but if you don't show up. I'm outta this! Without the others, killing the Snow Queen with those Drakorians at her side is suicide!" he said.

"Fine! Fine! All we have to do is knock her out first, like last time, take care of those two and then we kill her. Simple as that!" the first guy said "We'll discuss the details later" and with that they parted ways. Kristoff and I looked at each other and silently walked away thinking over what we had just heard.

"We need to tell Skylynn and Storm. Now" I said, but Kristoff stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.

"Hold on a minute" he said "You followed that man to-"

"Shut up!" I snapped before he could say what I knew he was going to say. Then I moved his hand away and was about to walk away, but Kristoff stopped me again.

"What do you gain from this, Hans? What's your game?" Kristoff demanded "Personally, if you told me about this, I wouldn't have believed you. Why are you suddenly willing to risk so much for Elsa?"

"I don't gain anything from this and I'm not risking for Elsa. I'm doing this because it's the right thing to do" I replied taking his hand off me and walking away with Kristoff by my side.

"How do I know this is not just a show?" he said suspiciously.

"Because I don't want anyone to know _I_ found the assassins and a lead to find out who's behind this" I replied "I want _you_ to go to my sister or to Storm and tell them what we heard and don't you dare tell them it was me who discovered it, because I _will_ know if you did" Kristoff remained silent studying me "Is that enough? And don't ask me why because it's none of your business!" I barked.

"Alright… fine…" Kristoff said, he too didn't look too keen of taking credit after he only overheard the conversation by following me. We were just a few feet away to get back into the open of the market place and I needed an excuse for my absence fast. Unfortunately, Kristoff came up with one and he punched me in the stomach, almost making me throw up my lunch.

"What the hell was that for?!" I said as painfully holding my guts. He just put my arm around his shoulder, supporting me as I was still doubled over in pain, as we walked through the marketplace.

"You needed an excuse, now you have one. You ate something that made you sick. I'm sorry about that" he said.

"No, you're not…" I retorted.

"You're right, I'm not. I've been wanting to do that for a while" Kristoff replied with a satisfied smirk. I shook my head and remained quiet, I kind of did deserve that, but apparently that pathetic excuse worked. I was in pain enough to make it believable. Up side of this episode was that I got to go into my cell to rest earlier. A few hours later, I heard some shouting out of my cell. I recognized the voice immediately, it was the man I had followed in the marketplace. He was begging the guards not to leave him alone with Queen Skylynn. I smirked satisfied. Apparently Elsa was letting my sister do the questioning. I could hold my curiosity back and walked to my cell door, trying to listen to what was going on, but obviously, I couldn't hear anything. Then I heard something, voices, but it was all muffled talking. Then I finally heard Elsa's voice clearly as she stepped in front of my cell door.

"Thank you for your assistance, Sky… Although I don't really agree with your methods. There was no need to punch him!" Elsa scolded.

"Like you didn't shoot ice at him. I noticed the frost in the throne room on my way here" I heard Sky reply. I could just picture her smirking in that moment.

"I just lost it for a second" she replied irritated.

"I got the job done. Stop complaining" Skylynn replied. I knew Elsa was rolling her eyes when she didn't reply "Not to mention that you shot ice on his bleeding nose when I was done, hypocrite" she mocked her.

"You're in Arendelle, do not question it's queen" she replied "Anyway, to sum it up" Elsa said seriously "We may not know who was the one who sent them, but now we know where to look"

"Aristocracy" I head Anna's voice say. Well, that was good news. It might have taken a while but at least it shortened the list of suspects. A moment later though, I had to jump away from the door as I heard Elsa tell Skylynn that she was free to come see me if she wanted to. Of course a second later, Skylynn was in my room while I pretended to be looking around the cell, with my hands clasped behind my back.

"Hans…" she said with an annoyed voice, closing the door behind her.

"Oh, hey, Tiger" I greeted as I met a gaze that matched the tone of her voice.

"Where you eavesdropping?" she deadpanned.

"No" I replied. Sky raised an eyebrow "Yes, I was" I replied "I heard the research is going well" I said.

"It is. The guy spilled" Sky said and with that she told me what happened while she questioned the guy. When Kristoff told them what we overheard while spying the hit-men, she and Storm went to the Old Mill and caught one of the two surviving assassins, who immediately started tweeting. Apparently it all started during the assembly in which middle and working class participated in. Having taken away all the privileges the aristocracy used to have and favored the merchants and the peasants, most of the nobles are not okay with Elsa's reign. Which is nothing knew considering she basically took away all their powers and put the nobles them on an equal footing as the other two classes. Most of them had political designs that with the presence of middle and working class in parliament couldn't be achieved anymore.

The thug did not know who was the mastermind behind that, but point is that Elsa is respected and loved throughout the country. No one has motivations strong enough to want her dead because she's become what people call an ' _enlightened queen_ '. No one, except for the aristocracy, that is. New fact was that Anna was next in case grief wouldn't have broken her first. That was about it, but apparently Elsa decided to have an immediate investigation on her ministers, new and old, start immediately.

When Skylynn left the room after summarizing what happened during the third degree I thought that we were done with the research for the day, but I was so wrong. That evening probably a few hours before dinner time I was once again surprised by another visit. A guard came in asking if I was feeling any better and when I said yes, he said that in order to make up for the extra time off, I was to go clean the stables. Escorted by the guards, I soon found myself with a shovel and a huge bucket and was kindly invited to clean the stables. It was then that I got another surprise visit.

Storm's POV:

After the third degree, I went riding. I needed to think over about stuff and like Sky, riding helped me clear my head. When I returned to the palace, it was a little before dinner. When I got close to the stables, I hopped off my horse and taking it by the reins, I walked back to the stables. Looking forward I recognized Hans working there, cleaning the stables. He didn't see me and I would have made myself known if it weren't for two men entering the stables. It was dark outside and the two men were facing the opposite direction and I didn't get to see their faces, but by the way they were dressed, I knew they were aristocrats. I would have gone in without a problem if it weren't for how they greeted Hans.

"Mr. Westerguard! Just the man we were looking for" one of them said.

"What do you want?" Hans snapped, in their direction.

"No need to be so snappy, Mr. Westerguard" said the first man "We came her to offer you a deal" That was the moment I quickly led my horse away from the stables' entrance and hid behind the door, listening to the conversation. Maybe it was because I am a soldier, but a start like this with an attempted murderer, even if Sky's brother, did not promise anything good.

"Oh, really? And what would two _ex_ -ministers want from me?" Hans said suspiciously.

"It's pretty simple actually, Hans- may we call you Hans?-"

"- call me whatever pleases you and get to the point. What the hell do you want?"

"We want you to finish what you started" Minister 1 answered firmly. Hans remained silent for a moment, processing what he just heard, like I was. Then Hans scoffed.

"Excuse me?" he asked somewhat in disbelief.

"Queen Elsa is a thorny ruler. She needs to be removed" started Minister 2 "You are the only one who got close enough to do it. You are the best man up for the job"

"Yeah, well, you forget a little detail. My sister put her neck on the line for me, if I kill the queen, she will answer to it and when news of her death will get to her kingdom, Drakora will destroy you. Plus, I have nothing to guarantees for me to get away with it. So why should I do it?" Hans said.

"But this is where you're wrong, my boy" said Minister 1 "When the queen will be dead, Princess Anna will take the throne. She is young, gullible and naïve and she will be devastated with grief. That' s when we will take charge. We'll be able manipulate her as we see fit. We will have Arendelle in the palm of our hand and when we do, you shall be free and nothing will happen to your sister. She'll go back to Drakora and everything will go for the best"

"Tempting, but what if I refuse?" Hans said.

"Then you have wasted your chance to gain your freedom. We need people to respect us, death penalty will be enacted once again, and you my dear Hans, are the first on the list" Hans looked thoughtful. He wasn't really considering this, was he?!

"So let me get this straight: if I refuse I die, if I tell the queen she dies and my sister and I have a one way ticket to death, if I accept my sister and I make out alive and free… sounds good to me… and after all… you're doing this for the good of Arendelle. It's the right thing to do" Hans said. I couldn't believe my ears. After all Skylynn did for him, he was blowing up his chance for redemption! He was going to get her killed!

"Our minds think alike" Minister 1 said satisfied with his response.

"So? Do we have a deal?" Minister 2 said offering him his hand for him to shake it.

"We do" Hans said but didn't shake his hand "When you have a plan, you'll know where to find me. I'm done here" Hans said before the ministers could add anything else and walked away to the exit, probably where the guards were, waiting for him to finish his shift.  
For a moment I remained numb. I just couldn't believe my eyes. Skylynn trusted him. We went to him to help us and he decided to betray us. I didn't think twice about it. I put the horse back in the stables and immediately headed to Skylynn's room and knocked repeatedly.

"I'm coming! Geez, Anna! You don't need to get so-" Skylynn stopped herself as soon as she saw me at the door. She was still in her uniform, but without the jacket and the belt with her weapons "-oh, you're not Anna" was her only comment.

"May I come in?" I asked her.

"You are aware that this might look inappropriate, don't you?" she smirked jokingly.

"Sky, it's urgent" I said. Her smirk vanished and she let me in closing the door behind her.

"What is it?" she asked me walking closer to me.

"I just got back from riding and I saw two ex-ministers talking to Hans, in the stables" I started.

"What did they want?" Sky asked crossing her arms.

"They wanted him to finish what he started. They asked him to kill Elsa"

"Those bastards… wait until Elsa hears about this and-"

"-Sky!" I called her grabbing her arm as she was about to get out of the room.

"What? Is there more?"

"Hans agreed to it" I told her. Sky's face morphed into utter disbelief.

"What? No, you're lying." she said.

"It heard him, Sky. I saw them. I'm sorry" I said.

"No, this is wrong. There must be a mistake. He can't have agreed to it! Not now" Sky mumbled to herself.

"Sky, I can't keep this from Elsa. You need to get out of here, now. Get on the first ship to Drakora and leave"

"No, I'm not betraying them. I'm not betraying my brother"

"Skylynn, this not the time to be stubborn! Hans is not the same guy we once knew. He _is_ a traitor! I know it's hard, but you've got to accept this" I said. Skylynn looked at me with such an intense glare that could disintegrate anything she laid her eyes on. Her bright silver eyes, clouded, they were greyer, like the clouds before a storm. Then she forcefully slapped me right across the face.

"How dare you?!" she said angrily "How dare you accuse my brother of betrayal when you were the first to do so!?" There was that sense of guilt again. "You were supposed to have my back. Mine and your king's and you left! People who could have lived died because of _you_! And _you_ dare to say that my brother is a traitor?! Yes, he has wronged but he's paying for his crimes, while you found an easy life in the Southern Isles as Theodore's gopher! _You_ are the one who betrayed _us_!"

"I didn't betray you!" I countered

"Then why did you turn your back on us?" she replied.

"I had no choice, Sky!"

"Do _not_ 'Sky' me, Ryder!" she snapped angrily "You always have a choice! And a choice for what?! You owe me an explanation"

"An explanation?!"

"Yes, give me an explanation, _now_ " she said with authority.

"I can't tell you and I have my reasons" I answered, feeling like Skylynn was cornering me.

"Are you really saying 'no' to your queen?" she said with an angry sarcasm.

"I work for Theodore now"

"Thanks to me, you're still a citizen of Drakora. Whether you like it or not, I'm still your queen"

"It was for the best!" I snapped slowly losing it.

"You left us when we needed you!" she shouted "How is that the best?! You left your people to die!"

"I LEFT TO SAVE YOUR LIFE!" I yelled and immediately slapped a hand on my mouth, regretting it. Silence ruled for a moment. I couldn't tear my eyes away from Skylynn's. Her rage vanished and looked at me incredulously. I couldn't back down from this now. I had to explain her. "I… I was on my guarding night shift and I saw one of your brothers, Prince August. I don't know when he got there, I just know that he was meeting with one of our men. Ruben, remember him?"

"Yeah, the one who couldn't stand being _'bossed around by a girl'._ I thought he had left with you" Sky answered.

"Yeah, well… he didn't" I confessed. Sky got the message "August had promised him a pretty good sum to have him kill you during the fight. I tried to talk Ruben out of it but he wouldn't hear of it. He wanted you dead as much as your half-brother and the money he was offered had made him even more determent, he had left me no other choice but to remove him like all traitors in Drakora are removed. I don't know why your half-brother would get to the point of paying someone to kill you, but I just knew that once August would have found out you were still alive he would have sent someone else until you were dead. I… I couldn't let that happen" I paused looking at the ground "I jumped on the first ship I found and left for the Southern Isles. There I found the help I needed and made up a story on how the rebels' victory would have been of advantage to the Southern Isles, making it clear that to win they needed you and put myself at Theodore's service to keep an eye on your brothers… and by the way, when I told Theodore the rebels needed you, I told him the truth… our people needed you" I confessed.

"You knew you were going to pass as a traitor" Skylynn said softly "That night, before you left, you said you were afraid of not making it out of that battle… but you didn't kiss me out of fear of never getting another chance, it was goodbye" I remained silent "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" she asked me "I could have talked to Landon, I could have explained everything. You would have been able to come back home"

"And then what?" I said softly "Landon wouldn't have had me come near you. He knew I had feelings for you too, but he let us work together because I never really did try anything because he was my king. If I hadn't already screwed up our friendship with that kiss, it wouldn't have been the same anyway"

"It would have, Storm" Sky said before pausing with a sigh "I didn't tell Landon about our kiss, there was no need for it"

"I don't see how it makes things better since he found out by himself" I commented.

"No, there was no need because I hadn't made my choice yet" she said. My head snapped up, looking at her.

"Wait- so… does that mean that… _I_ was…-"

" – my first kiss? Yes" Sky admitted, with a faint blush. To be sincere I didn't know what to feel, if happy or mortified. Sky seemed to sense my inner turmoil, and smiled at me "If it makes you feel any better, now I know that I didn't give my first kiss to a traitor, but to someone who cares about me and I'm happy about it" it made me feel better. I smiled back at her.

"So… friends?" I asked her offering her my hand. Skylynn smiled warmly.

"Friends" she said and shook my hand only to embrace me back as I pulled her for a hug. We stayed like that for a few seconds, enjoying each other's embrace, but then we had to get back to business.

"So… what do we do about Hans?" I asked her, pulling out of the hug "You do know I can't keep this thing from Elsa"

"I have no idea of what is going on in his head right now, but Hans is my brother and I have faith in him" she said "Let me speak to him first to figure this out and solve it"

* * *

 **And there you have it! NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE UP TOMORROW! So, what are your thoughts on Hans? What do you think is going to happen? What do you think about Hans's contradicting behaviour? What is going on in his mind? What do you think of his interactions with Kristoff? I hope I succeded in the small humor part. I really hope I didn't screw this up.  
CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM IS VERY WELL ACCEPTED!**

 **Thank you all once again for reading, reviewing and following!**  
 **I'll see you tomorrow!**

 **The Princess of Stars**

 **P.S.**

 **I have just opened a Facebook page. You can find the link on my profile. This way if you have questions or want to share something regarding the stories, you can contact me by posting on my Facebook page: The Princess of Stars.  
I hope to hear from you guys on my new page soon! :-)**


	17. The Hippodrome

**Hans' POV:**

Before leaving with the ice-harvesters I had another visit from one of the ministers. "Wait until we give you further instructions" he said. "You'll know right away" he said. I should know better than to trust traitors by now. What did Sky say was the first rule of the Drakorian army, again? Oh, yeah: _never trust a man who betrays his own ruler, never take him under your wing, because he can betray you as well._ Perfectly suitable for the situation on one side. Thousands of questions crowded over in my head after my little meeting with the ex-ministers. My first thought was to agree and figure out what they wanted. Only later numerous doubts filled my head: were they even serious when they made me that proposal, or was it just a way to frame me and Sky? Did they want to frame Sky through me after her showdown during the trial? Were they just testing me and I failed? Did Elsa know about this? Did Elsa-no, wait that's not an Elsa thing- did _Anna_ tell them to come and test me? But even that isn't possible, Anna is not the type. She'd rather come down here and do it herself only to punch me in the face again after my answer.  
My train of thoughts was interrupted when I heard the cell door open and Skylynn came inside. I let out a quiet sigh of relief as I saw her. She was fine. But then before I could greet her with a hug the look in her eyes told me she was about to question me about something: she knew.

"Hans, we need to talk, now" she said closing the door.

"You know" I said. Skylynn paced to me until she was right in front of me.

"What is going on?" she asked "As you just said, I know what happened so don't tell me it isn't true"

"How did you know?" I asked her.

"Storm" she answered "Storm saw and heard everything" I raised an eyebrow ironically

"Since when do you trust Storm, now?" I asked her with irony.

"It doesn't matter, I'm not here to talk about him. The point is that two aristocratic ex-ministers asked you to kill the queen of Arendelle and you agreed to it" Sky said with a scolding look "Hans what has gotten into you? Where did all those things you said of how _'Elsa has all the potential to be the greatest ruler Arendelle will ever have'_ or that she has a ' _mercy of you that you don't deserve'_ or the _'I don't like the way I feel about myself'_ thing go? What are you doing?"

"Sky if you're scared of being turned into an icicle, then get on the first ship to Drakora and leave" I told her like if I was talking about shopping groceries.

"Are you effin' kidding me?!" Sky shouted incredulously "Hans you are this close to get your head chopped off. Do you realize that one wrong move could cost you your life?"

"Do _you_ realize that _I_ realize that we _both_ get executed if I do one wrong move?" I answered.

"I don't know! You tell me. I'm not the one who's committing treason for the second time"

"Right, says the one who committed treason more than twice"

"That was not treason! I was working for Landon and I was an infiltrate among Hugh's forces. That kind of betrayal is called 'fooling the enemy'. It doesn't count" Sky said pointing her finger at me.

"Still a betrayal"

"Military strategy, but that's not the point. What are you doing? You can't throw everything away now that you're finally following the right path. Are you really going to push your luck that much? I won't be able to save your ass this time, Hans" she said trying to make me reason.

"Sky don't worry, I got it cover" I said calmly.

"That's exactly what's worrying me" she said "Please, Hans, I'm _begging_ you. Don't make me do something we're both going to regret forever"

"If I don't speak up you're going to tell Elsa about this, aren't you?"

"Don't make me do it, because you know I will… brother or not" she answered with her gray eyes meeting mine with a warrior like determination. My gaze softened and I took a step towards her placing my hand on her shoulder.

"Do you trust me, Sky?" I asked her

"Right now? I don't know" she answered. I paused for a moment, then a thought came to me.

"Do you remember what I told you when we trained together on the beach for the first time? You were having trouble fighting because of the sand. When you asked me how I managed to still be fast and fight without wasting energy?" I asked her. Skylynn thought about it for a moment, then looked back at me.

"You adapt your fighting style to the environment" she replied "You have to blend in and adapt to whatever situation you're in… like a chameleon"

"Have faith in my teachings, have faith in _me_ " Sky looked at me in the eyes as if to detect any sign of lie or if something was off. After a long moment of silence she took a deep breath and spoke up.

"Alright… but don't make me regret it" she said. I gave her a small smile.

"I won't" Sky took a step forward and embraced me in a hug.

"I really hope you do know what you're doing" she said softly.

"I do. Don't worry about me" I said pulling away. Sky gave me another small smile and headed to the cell door

"Hey, Tiger" I called her. She stopped and turned around "We're not the only chameleons around here" Sky had gotten the message immediately and I was sure that at the end of the day, Storm would be informed of the talk we just had. We both new that no coup from the ex-ministers was possible without the support of others inside parliament. But who? Also, the fact that even some middle and lower class members might have been corrupted is not to exclude. Power and money are a human vice and biting the hand feeding you for them is unfortunately something common, especially when involving royals.

* * *

It was about the middle of October when the perfect occasion for regicide occurred: the traditional Arendellian Horse Racing Championship and the queen was to attend.  
That same day, the ministers had finally revealed me their plan and all I had to do was wait. All of Arendelle was going to be present at race. During the breaks between a race and the other, some servants and I were to attend to either the queen or the racers. Before the last race, Elsa was to give a speech and invite the people to a toast to the best rider. The winner was going to have the honor of riding alongside the Queen and the Princess during the parade celebrating the foundation of Arendelle.

The plan was easy: serve the people, bring the goblet, blend in the crowd and right before the toast go get the crossbow, climb on one of the roofs and shoot the queen, too bad for the ministers that my plan was to sabotage their scheme and reveal them. I don't know how but the ministers managed to convince Elsa to have me serve at the games, both the royals and at the stables.  
My plan on the other hand was even simpler: tell Sky and Storm and let them reveal the traitors.

I had just returned from harvesting ice and was surprised to find some new clean clothes on my bunk as usually twice a week I would be allowed to the prison washrooms, always with four guards guarding me, and clean my own clothes. I walked over to my bunk and observed the clothes, they were teal trousers with black boots, black button-down shirt and a matching magenta sleeveless doublet with a few bronze hooks to close it with Arendelle's symbol pinned on my chest. It probably was Arendelle's official servant uniform. I had just made it in time to examine the clothes that a guard entered my cell.

"Get over here, Fallen Prince. Clean up and get ready, then we will escort you to the reception when it's time. There will be more than enough of us to make sure you don't try anything funny, so play nice and everything will be alright for you" he said in a deep cold voice, I didn't even answer, just gave him a shrug of the shoulders, then he got inside the cell and escorted me out to get a quick bath or 'shower', half cold too. After cleaning up, I shaved off my stubble… or the little I had. One thing I was really mad at Elsa's servants about was the fact that they had shaved off my sideburns… IT TOOK ME AN ETERNITY TO GROW THEM! Now I looked like a teenager right before puberty… but those sideburns were indeed ridiculous, I have to agree with Sky on that. Anyway, as I was clean, shaved and dressed up, the guards immediately took me to the racing grounds to start working.  
I looked around and saw to what they were referring to as roof: the hippodrome's stables. It was the only roof from where the Royal bleachers was in clear view. I did everything I was ordered to and prepared everything that needed to be ready for the games.

As soon as I was done, the riders started to come in. I froze when I saw who were two of the riders: Storm and Skylynn. Catching another servant I immediately asked what they were doing among the riders. Turns out that apparently, someone insisted for the Queen of Drakora and the Southern Islander general to honor the races by participating. It didn't take a genius to understand that someone wanted them out of the way, in case I had second thoughts. By making them participate, they were forced to stay away from both Elsa and Anna. Neither of them could refuse, obviously. Skylynn was a foreign queen and if she refused to participate it could have been seen as an offence to the Arendellian tradition. Storm, on the other hand, was Elsa's suitor, if he refused people would have seen it as fear of losing and lack of trying, therefore, he would have immediately been catalogued as a poor choice of a possible husband for the Queen. I was sure that they were planning on losing on purpose, but in order not to look suspicious, it was going to take a while. They were probably planning on losing on the semifinals, right before Elsa's speech.  
I needed a new plan fast. When I was told of the scheme, the ex-minister made the mistake of naming all those who had a part in this, along with what they were going to do. I had the names, but now I had no idea how I was going to expose them and prove it. It was their word against mine.

After the riders, other people started to arrive. Mostly politicians and a few other participants like other peasants and merchants, and soon the huge hippodrome was filled with people who chatted with one another and took their seats in the bleachers, waiting for their queen to arrive. Soon enough, Arendelle's royal chariot made its way to the hippodrome. As the carriage stopped, the people parted making way for the Queen, the Princess and the Ice Master, now soon-to-be Prince.

"Queen Elsa of Arendelle!" announced the head butler, Kai, as Elsa regally stepped out of the chariot, wearing a light green sparkly dress similar to her blue one, her hair was up in a professional looking bun, but in all, she looked stunning "Princess Anna of Arendelle and Ice Master Sir Kristoff Bjorman!" Kai announced and Anna soon after followed her alongside Kristoff, they both looking very elegant. Kristoff though looked quiet unsure. He certainly wasn't used to have all eyes on him and dress that fancy.  
They soon took their seat in the royal bleachers and the hippodrome went silent. Elsa immediately stepped up and welcomed the people to the event with the grace and elegant eloquence worthy of a queen and let the races begin.  
As I served around, I kept scanning around the place to notice even the most subtle suspicious thing. I would also glance at the ministers, trying to figure out a way to expose them and not just sabotage their plan. The most obvious thing was to reach either Storm or Sky, give them the names and tell them where they could find the crossbow waiting for me, during the break. Along with Storm witnessing when the ministers came to me, it would have been evidence enough. Sky would have gained Elsa's trust, Storm would have been seen as a reliable ally. Problem was that as long as I was on duty around the bleachers, with all those guards watching me, I couldn't get close to the stables.

Finally Skylynn and Storm got themselves eliminated from the races, losing on the semifinals. My first move would have been to immediately go to my sister and tell her everything about the ministers' plan, if it weren't for the guard who hooked his armored gloved hand on my shoulder and ordered me not to move, it was not time for me to leave to the stables yet. Someone would say to just tell the guard what was going on, but who was going to believe me?  
A moment later, Marquise Eriksen walked to me, telling the guard holding me to leave me to him. He was one of those behind the coup. As he lead me away, it was almost time for the toast. The final four riders were on their horses in front of the royal bleachers, all with a goblet in hand.

Elsa stepped forward and started her speech, congratulating the riders, complimented Skylynn and Storm for the race even if they lost and until it was time for the toast. I kept scanning around the area trying to find something, anything, but before I was able to notice something, the Marquise handed me a tray with an elegant golden goblet for the toast, Elsa's goblet. The queen politely requested for her goblet and I could do nothing but walk to her and bring it to her. All the noblemen part of the coup were there, but everything was too calm, _they_ were too calm, especially since they were seated behind the queen. There was something wrong.  
As I got in front of Elsa, I looked down, giving her a small bow not meeting her gaze. Elsa hesitated a second ad then took the goblet and I went back to put the tray in its place. It was when I put it down that I noticed it: a thin layer of white dust forming a little curved line was on the tray, the curved line resembling the goblet's base.

"May the best rider win!" said Elsa, raising the goblet.

"To the best!" the riders said raising their cups. Then it hit me. They were trying to frame _me_ all along! That's why they took all those precautions! It also explained why I was supposed to go to the stables: to make sure it looked like I was running away! I turned around and saw Elsa bring the goblet to her lips. In a second I ran to her.

"NO! DON'T DRINK IT!" I yelled running towards her. Elsa turned around surprised at my outburst, but I didn't make it to her as two guards held me back "DON'T DRINK IT! MARQUISE ERIKSEN POISONED IT!" I yelled as the two men blocked me. There were gasps among the crowd. Skylynn looked at me surprised just as much as Storm, the both of them with a hand on their sword, ready to pull it out at any moment.

"What?! This is madness!" the Marquise yelled outraged.

"What?!" the two sisters said incredulously as well.

"YOUR MAJESTY, THAT WINE IS POISONED!" I yelled "It's a coup set up by: Count Haugen, Baron Westley, Marquise Eriksen, Count Landvik, and Sir Brenner. They poisoned it! They're trying to kill you!" I yelled.

"This is an outrage!" Baron Westley said angrily, standing up from his seat, but his eyes showing panic.

"How dare you, you traitor?!" said the Marquise unsheathing his sword like the others, but as Skylynn and Storm unsheathed theirs pointing at them, the four guards under Skylynn's command pointed their swords towards them as well.

"Your Majesty! You can't believe this fool!" said another of the traitors, standing up from his seat.

"My Queen! Have him rot in the dungeons forever for this atrocity!" yelled one of them.

"Let us take care of this traitor!" demanded another.

"Yes! Let us take care of this scumbag and you'll never have to worry about him again!" said Count Haugen

"Yes! Leave him to us, Milady" said Sir Brenner.

"Your Majesty this is an outrage!" shouted Baron Westley.

"Enough!" Elsa said as silence reigned. She eyed me, then Skylynn and Storm, with an expressionless face but a stern look in her eyes "You are right, Count Landvik. This man is indeed a fool if he expects me to believe his words after what he tried to do to my sister and myself" she said. I couldn't believe my ears. Skylynn looked at Elsa with her eyes wide.

"Queen Elsa, please! Listen to my brother, this once" she said.

"Would you trust a man who has once betrayed you and your kingdom, Queen Skylynn? I don't think so" Elsa said sternly back at her. They shared a look which caused Skylynn not to insist. Anna was about to say something, but Elsa had struck her with a look that made her shut up even before she could mutter a word.

"Very well said, my queen!" said the Marquise

"Thank you, Marquise" Elsa said "Now, to prove you all that this fool is wrong, let us proceed with the toast"

"Yes!- All hail to the queen!- Long live Queen Elsa!- A toast to our queen!" they said one over the other raising their glasses as well.

"Yes, but not with those" Elsa said catching their attention "As the symbol of how much I treasure your loyalty, good sirs, I offer you to drink from _my_ goblet" As soon as she said that I saw them pale. Skylynn and Anna's faces morphed into small smirks as Sky shared a look first with Anna, then with Storm "Come on gentleman. Don't be shy. You have nothing to fear. Let's show this gentleman how much of a liar he is…" Elsa said offering them the golden goblet with an angelic smirk on her lips. None of them could make up a decent excuse for not taking the goblet. They were cornered, so they did the most natural thing, they ran.

"Seize them!" Anna ordered

"Take the former prince to the throne room!" Elsa commanded as more guards started the pursuing of the traitors.

"No! Let me go! I can help! Let me help!" I shouted struggling, but the two men were stronger and took me away as their queen ordered, but I didn't give up. Chaos irrupted in the square and while the guards forcefully took me away an arrow came flying from above hitting a glass, and that's when I realized someone to shoot the queen had always been there, ready to strike in case I betrayed them.

* * *

 **Elsa's POV:  
**

"Kristoff! Take Anna back to the palace!" I ordered him as the situation tumbled into chaos as the arrow came striking down.

"No! I'm staying with you!" Anna said as Kristoff grabbed her arm to take her away.

"NOW!" I thundered. Kristoff didn't need me to repeat it twice, he swept Anna off her feet and carried her away to the carriage, no matter how much she was struggling to have him let her go and stay by my side, calling my name in fear, fear that something might happen to me. Everyone saw the arrow and soon enough, others came shooting down. I hadn't seen where the archer was, yet, but it was close to us and I couldn't risk Anna getting hurt. People scrambled away screaming looking for cover, some of my soldiers had chased after the traitors, two of them had roughly dragged Hans away, while he struggled telling them to let him go so he could help, others had escorted Kristoff and Anna away back into the palace.  
Another arrow came flying down missing me by an inch as Storm, Skylynn and I hid under the royal bleachers.

"Did you see the archers?" I asked Skylynn.

"Hell no!" she answered, taking a peek before ducking immediately as another arrow came flying an inch above her head "And with that they better start praying I don't!"

"They're on the stable roof, somewhere!" Storm said

"Thanks, Stormy, please continue to point out the obvious!" Sky said sarcastically.

"Well, obviously you and I can't take them down from here with a sword" he answered. There was another arrow that stuck right through the wood between Storm and I, making us flinch. "And obviously we can't get out of here or we'll be dead before we can climb up to him" he added

"Who said we have to climb up when I can shoot him with my ice powers" I said taking a peak out of my hiding spot "If only I could see them" I added.

"What are you doing?!" Sky said as she pulled me back down in the hiding spot "Don't get up that much!" she said

"You'll be an easy target" Storm added.

"Sorry, the last time I was ambushed alone they were two and in front of me" I answered. Another arrow and I saw one of the guards tumble to the ground in pain. But our troubles weren't over. A second later, a few men ran into the hippodrome with their swords drawn. We all noticed the dark uniforms, very different from Arendelle's military ones, and this wasn't good.

"Really?!" I complained recognizing them.

"Who the heck are these guys?!" Storm said noticing them as well

"Baron Westley's little personal army" I answered.

"Elsa, you're a bit prickly, but-seriously- what the hell did you do to these people?!" Another arrow, but this time we managed to see where the archers where.

"Distract the soldiers, I'll get the archers!" I said and Sky and Storm sprang into action as I shot one blast of snow towards the archers before they could shoot either of them. Then before they could shoot once more, I blasted them once again with ice, chaining them to the roof. I finally got out of the hiding spot and looked around and saw Skylynn and Storm fighting in perfect synchronization. They knew each other's moves so well, they didn't even need to look at one another.  
Other soldiers started to move towards me and I blasted them with ice, cornering them with ice shards pointing to their throats keeping them from moving. Then I saw one of my soldiers about to be killed by one of the Baron's goons. I immediately blasted him with ice chaining him to a wall. The soldier looked at me and gave me a grateful nod of the head before going back to fighting, as I did the same. I turned around saw Skylynn step in front of me blocking one of our opponents' sword from hitting me and pushed him away with a kick in the stomach. I immediately shot ice to the two men who went for Sky, blocking their feet in a block of ice.

"Now we're even!" I said, before Sky took out her dagger and threw it towards me hitting in the shoulder a man who was about to attack me, as the weapon flew a few inches from my face.

" _Now_ we are" she said taking her dagger back from the man and knocking him out and going back to fight alongside Storm. Other men came by and using my powers I cornered them with icy spikes or chained them to the ground or on a wall with my powers. Suddenly there was another arrow stroke and one of my soldiers fell on the ground severely wounded. I looked around and a second arrow followed, almost hitting Storm. Luckily for him, I raised a small ice wall, blocking the arrow before it could hit him. Sky, Storm and I quickly looked around us as we fought, trying to move as much as possible, so that the archer who freed himself couldn't aim. I had to block him again, fast. I knew where he was but it wasn't easy to aim when those soldiers came swarming in threes and ready to kill me in the blink of an eye.

I could have done something drastic and freeze them all, but Storm, Sky and my valiant warriors were here and I couldn't risk hurting them by accident. Then I saw my chance to block the archer, but before I could shoot him an ice blast and block him, other soldiers ran towards me on both sides. I immediately blasted those on the left, making them slip on the ice I had just created under their feet. Then I turned around and shot ice shards towards the others, pushing them with their back on a wall pointing sharp icicles at their throats. I turned back around on the men who were still trying to get up from the ice, and chained them to the ground with my powers.

"YOUR MAJESTY! LOOK OUT!" one of my soldiers yelled, and before I could comprehend what was happening, an arrow came flying in my direction. For a split of a second I thought I would have died, hadn't it been for Hans. He jumped out of nowhere pushing me to the ground. As we hit the dusty floor, I felt Hans flinch in pain, then I saw blood trickle down his arm. We looked at each other for just one instant, then he got immediately off of me quickly helping me up and we saw the man charging his crossbow again.

"Now Queen QueeQElsa! Block him!" Hans said, but I was already pointing at him and blasted ice on him, making him lose his balance, but before he could fall down the roof I chained him to the wall with my powers, as Hans had my back engaging a fight with a soldier while I took care of the archer, then I turned around just in time to see Hans get the other man to bend down and knee him in the stomach, letting him fall to the ground. We looked at each other once more and I just gave him a small nod of the head in gratitude. But the moment, I saw one of my men being pierced through with a sword, I had had it!  
Suddenly the hippodrome was obscured by thick grey clouds, the temperature started to go terribly down as I concentrated. Snow started to fall down, slowly at first, but the cold winds quickly picked up, making the snow violently swirl, until I had finally created a storm. I saw the soldiers stop fighting as they saw the snow, but unexpectedly just one person realized what I was about to do.

"Skylynn, get everyone to get cover! Now!" Hans shouted to his sister. Skylynn tried to do as he said, but most of my soldiers wouldn't budge, not daring to leave me.

"Everyone out of here! Follow Queen Skylynn!" I shouted.

"But your Majesty!-"

"NOW!" I thundered as the snow became thicker and harder, making it difficult for everyone to see. My soldiers finally followed Skylynn out of the square, taking the injured ones with them and the other soldiers did exactly as I thought, they circled me in the snowstorm. Some of them were already mocking me and singing 'victory'! But as they got ready to attack me, I channeled all the snowstorm's violence through my hands and into me, feeling the storm's fury race through my bones and released it in a ferocious violent blast. The soldiers flew in all directions and as they crashed onto the bleachers and the walls of the buildings around, my powers finished the job by locking them to the wall with ice handcuffs and the storm ceased completely.

It took me a few seconds to realize the battle was over, Sky and Storm immediately came to me with the soldiers who looked around them still astonished.

"Is everyone alright?" I asked with heavy breath, as I received positive answers.

"That was awesome! You did it, Elsa!" Sky said walking towards me and hugging me.

"Yeah… and I didn't hurt anyone" I couldn't help but answer as I hugged her back.

"That was amazing!" Storm said hugging me as well as soon as Skylynn had let go of me. At first it felt awkward, but then I relaxed in his warm embrace, hugging him back.

"It truly was" added Hans as Storm and I immediately pulled away. I narrowed my eyes at him and walked towards Hans until I was right in front of him "Yeah, I know I'm supposed to be in the throne room right now!" Hans said raising his hands in surrender, anticipating me.

"You disobeyed me" I said sternly. His eyes widened.

"Are you _kidding_ me?!" Hans said offended.

"You and I need to talk, just not here and not now. Guards! Take him to the throne room" I said as the guards walked to us and took him away. Soon after, the other guards who had gone chasing after the aristocrats came back holding the criminal masterminds and the other accomplice noblemen in handcuffs. I ordered that the wounded ones were to be immediately taken to the hospital and to take the traitors to the dungeons. Skylynn and Storm took care of their goons and had other of my men take them to the dungeons, as well. As soon as I was done ordering around, I left Sky in charge of the situation and headed back to the palace.

The moment I set foot in the palace, I was swarmed by the servants, and the other dignitaries who had fled the hippodrome. Kai and Gerda were the first to come to me. They both looked like they were about to hug me, but restrained themselves, so before they would curtsy and bow to me I embraced them tightly. Kai and Gerda may be our head butler and maid, but they were like second parents to Anna and I.

"Your Majesty! We were so worried about you!" said Kai.

"When you sister came back and you weren't with her we thought you were- oh, I don't even want to think about it!" Gerda said with watery eyes.

"I'm fine. It's over. The traitors have been stopped" I said

"We saw a storm over the hippodrome, what happened?" asked Kai.

"Let's just say that it got chilly" I said.

"Elsa!" I heard someone call, I looked over Gerda's shoulder, and saw Kristoff running towards me. "Thank goodness, you're okay!" he said and for once I put aside my 'Untouchable-Older-Fiancée's- Sister' demeanor and let Kristoff hug me tightly, not caring if the servants were watching us. "Gosh, you got us worried sick!" he said planting a kiss on my cheek as he pulled away.

"I'm fine" I answered "Where's Anna? And what happened to your cheekbone?" I asked noticing the small bruise on his face.

"She's freaking out in your room" he said "I had to lock her in to make sure she wouldn't get back into the square, and I earned an elbow in the face carrying her there because of how much she was struggling"

"Then I better go to her before she decides to climb out of the window" I said, then I noticed Kai had a clean tissue sticking out of his jacket pocket, I took it, created some ice to put in, closed it and gave it to Kristoff so he could put it on his cheek, before rushing to the room accompanied by Kristoff. As I got there, holding the ice pack in a hand and taking out the key in another, Kristoff unlocked the door for me and I opened the door. As I got in, I saw Anna stopping her pacing and snapping her head towards me. Her eyes gleaming in relief as she saw me.

"Elsa! You're okay!" she said running towards me and throwing her arms around my neck, burring her face in it "I was so worried! And then I heard the servants yell about a snowstorm outside- Gosh! Don't ever do that again!" Anna said as I heard her voice tremble as she hugged me as tight as she could "Why didn't you let me stay there with you?! You said we would face everything together now!"

"Anna I had two very good reasons for it" I said stroking her back as she hugged me even tighter "First: I am replaceable and you're not" Anna jumped away holding me at arm's length.

"Don't you dare say that! You are _not_ replaceable! Not to me nor to Arendelle and you know it. I-"

"-And the second reason" I said cutting her off "You are my little sister and that means you need to stay safe"

"I'm clumsy and awkward… sometimes, but can take care of myself!" Anna complained.

"I know you can. But you too need to stick this into your head: I'll always try to protect you, because no matter what, I'm protective of you. I'll always be. It's in my elder sister nature and there's nothing I can do about it!" I said trying to lighten up the mood.

"Don't I know it?" said Kristoff holding the ice pack on his face, behind us. Anna loosened her grip on my shoulders, glancing at him as I turned around to look at him raising an eyebrow.

"Like you're one to talk!" Anna said, voicing my thoughts "You're the one who didn't even give me the time to react that I was already swept off my feet and dragged away, not to mention that you're also the one wanted to beat up Hans after Elsa thawed everything"

"Speaking of Hans" I said remembering, pulling out of Anna's embrace "We need to speak with him"

" 'We' as in the two of us or is it a royal we?" Anna said teasingly. I just gave her a look. Of course, I meant the both of us. Anna laughed at my expression, then looked at the smiling Kristoff in front of us, who was holding that ice pack on his face.  
"I did that, didn't I?" she said blushing a bit in embarrassment. Kristoff and I just nodded at her. Anna looked back at Kristoff and walked to him. "Sorry" she said getting to her tippy-toes and planting a kiss on his cheek "I'll make it up to you, I promise" she said.

"Just don't hit me in the face again" he said with a smile. Anna smiled back and turned back to me, telling me to go with her eyes. Together, the three of us walked to the throne room. As expected, Hans was there, kneeled down and handcuffed. As I walked in front of him with Anna standing beside me, arms crossed glaring at him. Kristoff stood beside my sister with an impassive look.

"Guards" I said attracting the attention of the two men standing at Hans's sides "We need to speak to the former prince, privately. Don't let anyone in except for General Ryder and Queen Skylynn if they are to be back shortly"

"Yes, your Majesty" said the guards. Anna looked at me weirdly, but let the subject drop, again. I knew she would have asked a thousand questions later, but if this conversation went as planned, then she'd get all the answers she wanted. Once the guards were out I spoke up.

"I'm not a person of many words, so I'll cut straight to the point: you are one undecided man" I started sternly "You are giving me- _us_ \- mixed signals" I said pointing to Anna and myself "So, start by giving us an explanation. How did you know who was behind the coup and how did you know my glass was poisoned?" Hans remained quiet, with his head down.

"Answer her!" Anna said sternly.

"You are alive and Arendelle is safe. It doesn't matter how I knew" he answered. Anna was about to snap something back, but I motioned her to let me do the talking.

"Yes, it is, and if you don't answer me, maybe the other traitors will" I snapped back "So let me rephrase that: how did you know about the coup?"

"I knew because I was supposed to be the one to kill you" he answered "They wanted me to 'finish the job' and in exchange for my help they would have set me free after taking Arendelle under their control. But-"

"You are despicable!" Anna said "I saved your life, she has mercy of you, we save you and your sorry a-"

"Anna, that's enough!" I interrupted

"No, Elsa! He-"

"Anna! This is how the thing works: first you actually _let_ him speak and _then_ you get to insult him if you don't like what he says" Anna huffed but remained silent, waiting for him to speak "Continue" I said turning back to Hans.

"They wanted me to 'finish the job' but… I was outsmarted. I pretended to agree to it to figure out what they had in mind and reveal them" he glanced up at us and read our minds "Yes, I know it sounds like a load of crap, but it's true! I'm not an idiot! I know that whatever I do know will make my sister pay for it. I may be a depraved man but I'd never send an innocent to die in my place, especially if that person is my sister" he said with a hint of indignation "Anyway, they had told me that I was supposed to give you the goblet and while the final riders got ready I had to climb up the stables' roof where a crossbow was supposed to wait for me. As for how I knew that your glass was poisoned, I didn't. I figured it out. It was all by chance, actually… While I wasn't looking, the Marquise must have put the poison. He was the one who handed me the tray with your goblet and after I gave it to you, I noticed a thin layer of some dust at the base of the glass. I just put two and two together. They were trying to kill you and frame me all along" he said.

"And you decided to save me" I stated. Silence. "Putting it this way, you _are_ aware of what this sounds like, right?"

"… yeah" was his quiet reply.

"You didn't save her for the sake of saving her, you did it to save your own butt!" Anna interjected, angrily. That was exactly what I was referring to, but something told me he wasn't completely lying.

"I think he's telling the truth" I told her. Anna looked at me with her eyes wide.

"What?! Are you serious?! Elsa, you heard what he said! He agreed to the scheme and when he realized that they were going to give him all the blame he backed out!"

"I did it to save you both!" Hans said.

"No, you did it to try to kill us again and when you realized it was going to backfire, you decided to play hero!" Anna accused.

"Not this time. And even if I did, I had nothing to win out of this" Hans answered.

"Then why didn't you say anything about your plan to Skylynn?" Anna said, glaring at him. Hans was about to say something, but restrained himself.

"I tried to blend in to find out their plan, but they kept me in the dark until today. I didn't tell her because I didn't want her and Storm to expose themselves even more. When the ex-ministers told me, they made sure I could not reach Sky or Storm" he answered instead, not looking at us "It was Count Landvick to suggest having them race, wasn't he? He was in charge of organizing the event this year" I was indeed. He did it so that Hans couldn't speak with Sky and Storm, by inviting them in something they couldn't back out from. I glanced at Kristoff. He looked thoughtful. Then I glanced at Anna, who instead narrowed her eyes at him.

"I do not believe you" Anna said.

"This doesn't change the fact that if it weren't for him, I'd probably be dead and maybe you could be too" I interjected before she could say anything else and turned back to Hans"So, I am going to formally thank you for saving my life and for the service you did Arendelle" I said "However…" I continued. He looked up at me and our eyes met, emerald green against icy blue "Saving my life just this once, even if twice in a day, doesn't mean that you have gained our trust and forgiveness"

"Would three times change something?" Skylynn said entering the room with a smirk. Hans flashed a look with wide eyes at her.

"Sky? Back so early? Shouldn't you be with Storm right now, taking care of the prisoners and you know, checking on my wounded soldiers?" I said.

"I did and rushed here as soon as I could. Storm is taking care of the last things" she said "Anyway, maybe one saving wouldn't do much, but do three count?"

"Sky, he saved me from the poisoning and being shot" I said.

"Sky don't" Hans pleaded looking to the ground.

"Sorry, but I don't like taking credit for something I didn't do, plus it would have come out one way or another" she said "Elsa, I wasn't the one who saved you from those hitmen in the forest, it was him"

"Wait- what?!" Anna said taking the words out of my mouth.

"I wouldn't have been able to save you because I had two of them on me, Hans threw himself between you and that sword, tackling the thug to the ground. That guy died because he hit his head on a rock in the fall. Even if lightly, my brother was wounded to save _you_ " she said looking at me straight in the eyes.

"And I wasn't the one who found the lead to the hit-men. It was him" Kristoff suddenly spoke up.

"Kristoff, what are you talking about?!" Anna said. I looked at him in the eyes. His brown eyes sincere as always.

"After today and what I saw I can't keep quiet" Kristoff continued "I did overhear the conversation between the two assassins, but not because _I_ was searching a lead. Hans was. When I saw him sneaking away, I thought he was trying to escape, but he was actually following the thug to find out his plan and who was behind the regicide attempt. I followed him and he made me notice what he was actually doing" Kristoff paused "He's been on our side all along. For once, he was doing what was right" he finished as his gaze met Anna's and when she didn't reply, it was clear she knew he was telling the truth.

"Hans, is that true?" I asked him anyway. Hans looked at me, then at Skylynn, then at Kristoff, but when he looked down and didn't answer, that was reply enough "But why did you give Skylynn and Kristoff credit for it?" I asked not understanding his decision.

"I… I didn't want you to feel like you owe me something" he answered "And I still don't want you too. For once I acted for what I know to be right, not convenient" he answered.

"Well… now a 'thank you' doesn't do it" Anna muttered.

"I say that he has slept in the dungeons and wore those shackles long enough. Wouldn't you agree, your Majesty?" Skylynn said. I glared at her and so did Anna this once.

"I say that she is the queen and she gets to decide" Anna said "But letting him out of the dungeons or take the shackles off? No way" Anna said. I took a moment to think about it. I looked at Hans, then back to Skylynn. She had full trust of him… maybe I can have some too, this once.

"As I said earlier" I started "You don't have our forgiveness and we don't owe you anything… however" I continued "As a sign of gratitude, from now on, you'll be working in here in the palace as a servant, but you'll be under someone's watch 24/7 weather it is the guards or the other servants, or myself… and you won't be sleeping in the dungeons anymore, but you'll have a room in the servants' quarters which will be guarded" I added. Anna looked at me like if I were crazy… and maybe I was.  
"Guards!" I called. And the two men who had accompanied him, immediately came back.

"Yes, your Majesty?" they said coming in and I told them their new orders regarding Hans "…And take the shackles off of him" I added. This time, Anna had her eyes out of her sockets. She grabbed my arm and took a few steps back so that we could speak for a moment in private, while the guards helped Hans up and unshackled him under Sky's satisfied watch.

"Elsa, are you crazy? He might have saved you just to gain our trust and have another go to the throne! You can't trust him!" Anna said.

"You're right. I can't trust him and I don't. But this is the least I can do after he saved my life three times" I said "After he saved me from getting poisoned, he didn't need to come back and almost take an arrow for me. He had the opportunity to have me killed today and get away with it, but he didn't"

"Look, Skylynn is a hero and everything, but she's cunning and persuasive too _. I_ can trust her, but you can't. She's Hans's sister and whether we like it or not, people do crazy things for their loved ones. You and I are an example"

"Anna, look, you know I always listen to your advice. Your opinion is important to me, but when it comes to Hans… it's Sky the one I have to listen to" I answered as gently as possible. Anna looked at me unsure, then towards the two Westerguards, then back to me.

"Do you _trust_ Skylynn?" she asked. It took me a second to think it well over.

"I do" I answered finally "She's my friend" Anna nodded slowly.

"Then, I believe you did the right thing" she said with a small hint of sadness. I caressed her cheek with my hand and told her to go and that I'd see her again later. She nodded and glanced back at me once, then towards Hans and Sky and then linking her arm with Kristoff's, they walked away as I turned back around to face Hans who was now free from the shackles.

"Thank you, Queen Elsa" Hans said bowing, placing a hand on his heart "I swear on my life that you won't regret it"

"I better not" I said looking at him straight in the eyes. He bowed again and walked out of the throne room followed by the guards. I had done it: I had just given him a chance to prove himself. Skylynn met my gaze and smirked walking towards me.

"See? He's not all that bad" she said with that side smile that annoyingly was just like Hans's.

"I hate it when you are right" I grumbled.

"When it comes to my brother I always am"

"We'll see about that" I countered. She just smirked, her gray eyes gleaming playfully, as she walked past me, but I stopped her with my hand "Not so fast" I said.

"Whatever it is you think I did, I didn't do it this time" she said.

"No, you did something" I said.

"Oh, yeah? Enlighten me"

"You knew about the coup, didn't you? Both you and Storm did" I said.

"I had absolutely no idea" she answered. I raised an eyebrow at her, but she held my gaze.

"Oh, really? So you mean to tell me that in this last period you and Storm have just been attached to Anna and I like leeches just because you enjoyed our company?" I said sarcastically

"Yes" she replied, totally poker faced.

"You really are Hans's younger sister" I said shaking my head

"What made you finally come to that conclusion?" she asked playfully.

"You being such an irritating good liar, that's what" I added.

"Oh, I would never!" she said giving me a light pat on my arm. I playfully glared at her as she smiled, holding herself back from laughing in my face.

"Oh, and by the way, I'm _prickly_?" I said, not forgetting her comment during the attack.

"It's the sad truth, gotta live with it" she replied nonchalantly. I stared at her for a moment.

"That's the exit, Sky" I said and she burst out laughing "Get. Out." I added pushing her away, laughing.

"Of course, your Majesty" she said with a deep teasing bow and walked away as I shook my head… part of me hoping that Anna was right and that by trusting Skylynn I had done the right thing.

* * *

 **And there you have it! So, what did you think of this chapter? Thoughts on Hans and Elsa? Speaking of them, next chapter: HELSA MOMENT!  
Let me know your thoughts with a REVIEW!**

 **Please Read!  
You guys are catching up with me and I've got a few exams to deal with in these months, so I warn you that from now on, I probably won't be able to update as regularly due to the exams and the need of writing more.**

 **With that being said: thank you all for READING, REVIEWING, FAVORING and FOLLOWING!  
See you on the next chapter!  
**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	18. A Ride with Hans

**Elsa's POV:**

We were in the middle of November by now and Hans has been behaving himself pretty well. I have to give him that. The shocker was when Kai informed me that sometimes Hans was asked to go run some errands in town (always with guards escorting him, of course). You can imagine my disbelief when he told me that the guards told him that he had behaved well, never tried to run, did his errand and headed back to the castle. Not to mention that ever since he publicly saved their queen twice in a day the people of Arendelle had started opening up to him a little, meaning that they weren't looking at him like an awful criminal anymore, sure he still had to work to gain the people's trust, but he wasn't looked at with as much disdain. Some people had begun to see him as someone trying to make up for his deeds and most of them realized that it was better not to add more weight to his punishment, through ridicule or criticism. They let him be. Unfortunately, I was sure that not everyone was treating him in such way, some still treated him like the worst of criminals. By the way he looked sometimes, I just knew that something was bothering him. Hans was also looking much better since he came here. He had finally gained more weight and his wounds were healed, he was in full health, looking just as handsome as he was when he came here to my coronation. Other than that, Hans and I have been spending some time together too, it wasn't anything special, just him doing his chores and me ordering around, or me reading in the library as he worked.

I've also been spending some time with Storm in this period. There are many things I could say about him. First of all, we were courting, officially for a month now. He was my suitor. During the events we had, he was always my 'date' you could say. I've never danced with him, though. I just couldn't, but even though I declined each of his invitations, he was never insistent, he was always very respectful. I told him he could ask anyone else, of course. I didn't want him to miss out on all the fun just because I was simply going to stand there chatting with the guests and Skylynn, who would also not dance. Storm didn't abandon me at the parties. He would dance a bit, then come back to me, usually with something to drink, and talk together, then go back to dancing, and the cycle repeated itself.  
Other things I could say about Storm were that he was just incredible. He would say everything I'd need to hear, it seemed like he always knew what to say. I felt like I couldn't have asked for anything better. He was very nice, polite, handsome, respectful of my space and when we hand an appointment he would never keep me waiting. He was always there when he said he would, whether we met up for walks in the gardens, or around town, or for some political matters. Anna liked Storm a lot, he got along well with Kristoff, and he was close with Skylynn. He was charming, brave, well-mannered, endearing and made me feel comfortable. Though somehow, it felt… off. I don't know. Maybe it is just me overthinking it. It seemed just too good to be true.

Sometimes I would go watch Storm train with Skylynn and the soldiers and it was nice seeing them getting along. Speaking of Skylynn, what to say about her? Just that, even though I'm older than her, dealing with Skylynn felt a lot like dealing with… a very annoying older sister. She was always poking me around, insulting me with affection sometimes (when no one was ever around, of course, apart from Anna and Kristoff), and I usually had a comeback ready, but so did she, basically most of the time we bickered, a _lot_ , like siblings. But apart from that, Skylynn always had great advice for me when I needed it. It wasn't rare that I would share my reform ideas with her and Anna, but unlike my sister, if Sky noticed that I could improve what I had in mind, she shared her piece of advice with me. I had finally learned to trust her and she trusted me. She may have been Hans's sister but she had proven herself trustworthy, trustworthy enough for me to grant her permission for a request she made me.

I was in my study with Anna. Since the last regicide attempt, I kind of forced Anna to take some social studies lessons and law classes from our tutor, which also turned out to be the perfect opportunity to distract Mrs. Hyles, our tutor, from bugging me with how great Storm was and how I should consider marrying him to provide an heir to the throne. Anyway, no matter how much she huffed and complained saying she knew just enough, I obligated Anna to increase her knowledge regarding our laws and how to run a kingdom because: you never know.  
Right now, Anna was doing her homework: which consisted in writing a paragraph and learn by heart and write a paragraph on another set of Arendellian Laws assigned her. It is useless to say that Anna can't sit still for more than five minutes or stay concentrated on things she didn't like. Anna was quite studious when she liked what she was studying or when she was good at something, but when it came to boring stuff she could take hours because she kept distracting herself. Reason why, lately, I would help her out whenever I could as she herself told me that she needed someone to call her attention back on what she was doing when she got distracted. Ergo, Anna started using a method Skylynn suggested her and I kind of imposed her to follow: read, underline, rewrite simplifying the language but keeping it appropriate to the topic, reread and repeat. It was a long method, but efficient and Anna admitted that it did force her to pay attention.

"Elsa, I need a favor" Skylynn said barging inside my study, while I was trying to teach Anna some queenly stuff.

"Don't you know how to knock?" I answered, but she ignored me.

"I'm kind of in a rush, I'm sorry" she said.

"Okay, shoot"

"Do you mind if I sail back to Drakora? Princess Angel sent me a letter saying that a thing only I am allowed to take care of came up"

"Does it matter if I mind?" I had answered sarcastically "If I say 'no', which I do, you're just going to go anyway and get away with it once you're back"

"Elsaaaa…." Anna moaned interrupting us "What the heck does this mean?" she said pointing at an article of the Arendelle Law " _The Executive Power is vested in the King or in the Queen if he/she has succeeded to the Crown pursuant to the provisions of Article 6 or Article 7 or Article 48, Comma 3, of the law of this kingdom. When the Executive Power is thus vested in the Queen, she has all the rights and obligations which pursuant to this Code and the Law of the Land are possessed by the King, or the nubile Queen. Such power shall endure in the Queen's hands in case her affianced shall enter the Royal Family entitled as Consort Prince_ "

"What do you think it means?" I asked her gently.

"It's got something to do with power and land and marriage, but- in English?" she answered.

"It means that Elsa can do whatever she wants but has some obligations according to your laws and that while she's still a bachelorette the Law of the Land is in her power until she's married. If her husband is Consort King that power shall go to him, if her husband is Consort Prince she will keep that power" Skylynn brutally translated.

"A little shoddy for a translation, but yes, what she said" I answered, glaring at Sky. I wanted Anna to get that article by herself.

"Oh… and what do Article 6, 7 and 48 say?" Anna asked.

"Open the law book and look" I told her.

"Can't you just tell me?"

"Anna, don't be lazy and study"

"But-"

"I'll have Mrs. Hyles called and leave you two to an extra lesson" I warned. Anna paled.

"I'm on it!" and she immediately opened the law book and looked it up. I turned back to Sky.

"The idea of sneaking in an out of Arendelle is tempting, but I'd rather have your formal permission to avoid any trouble" Sky said. I raised an eyebrow.

"You're actually serious about it?" I asked her slightly surprised.

"Yes" she answered like it were obvious.

"Sorry, I can't let you go" I told her.

"I'll be back as soon as I'm done. On my honor" she insisted.

"Skylynn, you swore that you would have remained in my land until you brother's punishment was over. According to our law, you can't leave Arendelle, now" I told her apologetically.

"But your law also says that I can leave if I am escorted by an Arendellian functionary and I have the Queen's permission" she answered. I glared at her, she smirked "You were _so_ hoping that I didn't look up your law before asking" she trumphantly.

"Who are you taking with you?" I asked ignoring her satisfied face.

"I was thinking about Storm" she replied.

"Storm? Why Storm?"

"We have some business in Drakora to take care of" she vaguely explained. I really did not want them to set sail now and for good reason.

"Sky, storm season is getting close, sailing will be impossible around December" I told her.

"More reason for allowing me to go now!" she argued

"Skylynn, I don't-"

"-Blondie! I've got a kingdom to run too!" she interrupted, cutting the argument short. Next to me Anna half-failed to stifle a laugh as she studied, but didn't look up. I lightly gave her a smack behind her head, causing a silent complaint from her.

"How long does the trip take?" I asked Sky getting a paper and writing down her special pass, defeated. She had a kingdom to run... being queen myself, I couldn't argue with that.

"Four days, two to go and two to return by ship"

"Storm is at my service for now, but he's not Arendellian. Bring another functionary with you"

"Ouch! I thought we were over the trust issue part" she joked, I gave her a look.

"It's just for formalities" I told her "You and Storm have 10 days max, starting from today. Go get your stuff ready" I told her handing her the paper… yeah… she always manages to get her way.

"Thank you" she said and turned around to leave the room only to be stopped by Storm who entered the room as well. The moment he got in, Sky muttered something about him being here for 'that thing' and Storm gave her a nod. Sky patted his arm and left the room. As soon as she was gone, Storm asked if he could speak with me in private. Leaving Anna to her studies, Storm and I made our way out of the room and into the corridor. I closed the door behind me and after taking a few steps away, I stopped, waiting for him to speak up.

"What did you need to talk to me about?" I asked.

"About the business Skylynn and I have to attend in Drakora" he replied seriously "You do remember when Sky was mad at me because I left Drakora, right?" I nodded "Skylynn and I have been talking about this for a while and now that the opportunity came up she doesn't want to waste any more time. She asked me to come back and face trial in my homeland and I accepted with no hesitation"

"Wait- Trial? For what? You told me that you hadn't betrayed your people" I said slightly shocked.

"And I didn't… but to Drakora I am a deserter, a traitor and now that she knows the truth, no matter how hard it's going to be, Sky will not allow me to be remembered to my people as such" he replied. I took a deep breath. By the look in his blue eyes, I could tell, Storm was nervous to tell me this. I gently stroked his stubbly cheek to let him know it was alright and that I was listening.

"Why did you leave them?" I asked. I wasn't angry or upset. It was a simple question and I knew that this was the question he was willing to answer me. It was why he wanted to speak with me.

"Because in order to defeat Hugh, King Landon wasn't enough. We needed someone who would take a risk and break the rules… we needed Skylynn" Storm started " _Drakuyiir apnì panoate_. It means 'Drakora above all'. My kingdom needed a hero. I was not going to let Drakora lose her. She either doesn't accept it or doesn't want to understand it, but we only won the war because she came along. Of course, not everyone agreed with the idea. She had and still has enemies among the Drakorians. Long story short, I found out someone was planning on having Sky assassinated and after taking care of the traitor I left in secret to stop any further attempts on the future queen's life from its roots" It didn't take long for me to realize who were the ones behind Sky's attempted murder.

"The Southern Isles" I concluded. Storm nodded "Her brothers wanted her dead… but why? Why do they hate her and Hans so much?" I couldn't help but ask.

"I don't know. Maybe they feel threatened by them" he said "To my surprise, Sky's father was more than willing to help me, still in secret, but he did. He'll be joining us to Drakora to testify for me… Skylynn doesn't know that yet, I'll tell her later, but I'm afraid she won't like the news" he said, bracing himself for an almost certain argument he was going to have with her later.

"Considering what she told me, I don't blame her" was the only thing I could comment.

"I'm not doing this just for myself, though" Storm said, making me glance back at him "I cannot be marked as a traitor. You are a queen, Elsa and I don't want your people nor other countries doubt you or your ability to rule because of me"

One thing he said left me with a question mark, but I didn't give much weigh to it at the moment. After his last statement, in an instant many thoughts came up to my mind. I couldn't help but feel… good. How else could I feel? He was willing to go back to his country and face a trial to clean his name in order not to compromise my rule, considering our courtship. Apart from that, knowing that he was willing to sacrifice his honor and reputation for the good of his country impressed me. He was loyal and someone you could rely on. Anna's and Mrs. Hyles's ramblings came back to me and in that moment I couldn't help but agree with them. Storm was the perfect husband. Respectful, loyal, smart, brave, dutiful, dedicated, honorable, handsome… what more could I ask for? I might have put some boundaries because I was terrified of freezing him for getting too nervous, but he still managed to find a way to show that he cared or show affection in a way. Like redeeming his name in his country, or accompanying me whenever I needed to go somewhere, playing the lute for me, taking walks together. He always managed to make his company pleasant, he was always smiling and sometimes I forgot that I had put a boundary because of my powers.  
I knew that with an accusation of high treason in Drakora meant death sentence, but I did not want to plainly point that out at the moment. If there was someone who could help him it was Skylynn and I knew she cared about him, if she thought it was possible to reabilitate him, then I had to trust her… trust them.

"Thank you for telling me, Storm" I said smiling at him "I appreciate what you're doing, I really do. Yours was a noble act, Drakora better see that like I do. I know you'll be careful" he smiled back at me.

"I will. Thank you" he said.

"I'll see you off at the docks later" I told him.

"Of course…" he paused "But before meeting up there and be all-formal, I was hoping to say goodbye now, my way" I looked at him inquisitively as his blue eyes met mine. Then before I even had the time to react, he leaned down and gently kissed me on the cheek. By the satisfied look in his eyes I knew I was blushing.

"I'll see you at the docks, your Majesty" he said with a smile.

"General" I said smiling and we parted ways only to meet up a little while later at the docks.

The moment Storm and Skylynn arrived to their waiting ship, it took me only one sorry look on Storm's face and Skylynn's stoic one, with _the look_ in her eyes, to realize they just had a huge fight. It was a look it took me a while to recognize. While her face was impassive not daring to show any sort of emotion, Sky's silver eyes betrayed her. It was a look mixed up with anger and sadness the she sported only when she was hurt. It meant that whatever they argued about had something to do with her past. She did not feel sorry about herself, but when she opened up to me on that September day before heading off to fight her half-brothers, it was clear that it hurt her because she couldn't really find a plausible explanation to put her mind at ease. Yet, she bottled everything inside and did not want to show anyone how she was feeling.

The moment they saw us, their expressions changed into fake happy smiles, hoping to make us think everything was alright. I had brought Anna and Kristoff along and, no matter how much they complained, I brought Hans with us as well. Skylynn was his sister, it was in his right to say goodbye to her. He just stood quietly beside me so that I could see him.  
The moment the two drakorians were in front of us, Anna didn't even ask, she just got to her toes and wrapped an arm around Skylynn's neck and one around Storm's waist in a hug, wishing them a safe trip. I wasn't surprised to see Kristoff say goodbye to Storm in a very brotherly way, like if they were old friends. So much for formally saying 'Goodbye, have a safe trip'.  
Still true to his word, the moment he got in front of me, Storm went for a bow, but I stopped him and gathering up my courage I told him to give me a hug. He smiled widely and embraced me as I wished him a safe trip. It felt… nice.

Sky was just done saying goodbye to Kristoff, before walking to her brother, who embraced her immediately.

"Before you crack a joke on it, I'll behave" Hans told her, slightly pulling away from their hug. completely ignoring the fact that Anna, Kristoff and I were one foot away.

"I know you will" Sky answered.

"Look, I know Father is going to be there, so please, _you_ behave yourself too. You're a queen now" Hans warned.

"Oh, I will, it depends on him"

"Sky…" he warned with a look, I interpreted as his 'I'm-Serious' look.

"Okay, fine. I'll _try_ to be nice. I promise" Sky replied. Hans seemed satisfied with her answer and smiled.

"Take care" he said and hugged her again, planting a fond kiss on her cheek. Then he pulled back taking Sky's face in his hands "I'll see you in 10 days, Tiger" and planted another kiss on the top of her head. She smiled at her big brother and stroked his arm as Storm walked to Hans to say his goodbye to him. I glanced at Anna, who glanced back at me and failing miserably to hide her surprised look, taken off guard by seeing Hans acting so… affectionately, brotherly… human.

"Storm, I'm counting on you" he said seriously motioning to Skylynn, shaking Storm's hand in a warning grip. _Fatherly_ , was now to add to the list. Because that was a typical father sentence.

"Don't worry, Sky and I were the Demolition Duo during the revolution" Storm said eyeing her with a twinkle in his blue eyes.

" _Demolition Duo_?" I said walking to them, raising an eyebrow. Hans looked as confused as I did.

"Yup! That's what they called us. I hope that makes you feel less worried" Sky said. Hans and I shared a look, holding back a smile.

"No, it doesn't, but that's fine" I confirmed shaking my head with a smile as Anna laughed a little, luckily missing the look Hans and I shared. It was now my turn to say goodbye to Skylynn. As queens at least we were supposed to keep it formal. We had to give an image, it didn't matter that Sky was leaving on a date close to storm season, or that my parents died in a shipwreck, because they did the same thing Sky and Storm were doing. I didn't even get the chance to hug them one last time because of how much I feared my powers. But once again that day, I found myself not caring about formalities. Preceding me, Sky gave me a playful look and opened her arms, I replied by smiling and wrapping my arms around her neck embracing her, as she hugged me back tightly.

"Take care, Sky. I am seeing you two in 10 days" I said.

"Don't worry, I'll bring him back to you" she joked earning a small laugh from me as we pulled away. With that Storm and Skylynn got on the ship and sailed back to Drakora.

* * *

Later on that day, I finally found some free time from my queenly duties. Considering that Anna was with Kristoff, I decided to go out for a ride. I headed to the stables expecting to find the usual stable boy working, but surprisingly I found Hans, alone, as he was petting Sitron, while he brushed his coat. He was wearing a white, wide V-neck shirt, neatly tucked in by a red sash around his waist, with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and black trousers and boots. His shirt slightly spotted with dark dust. He didn't notice me at all. Hans looked so at ease around his horse, whispering something to him, smiling and letting out a small chuckle when Sitron bumped him lightly with his muzzle. He turned around putting the brush back down to get another one for the horse's main, but as he turned around Sitron bumped his elbow and his side with his head. I realized the horse had seen me and was trying to get Hans's attention on me, succeeding as Hans turned in my direction and saw me. The moment he did he immediately straightened himself and bowed.

"Your Majesty, I wasn't expecting to see you here! I'm on stable boy-duty, I swear!" he immediately said raising his hands in surrender.

"Hans, it's fine. My question here is actually, why are you alone? Shouldn't Steward be with you?" I asked, not seeing the stable boy anywhere near him.

"Steward went to get some hay for the horses, he'll be back in a little and told me to brush them in the meantime" he explained.

"I can see you caught up with Sitron" I said pointing at his horse.

"Thank you for taking care of him while I was back in the Isles" he said with a grateful look. I gave him a small smile and nodded, walking next to him and petting Sitron on his neck "You seem to be pretty at ease around him" he said looking at me curiously while he continued brushing him.

"It might be because he liked me immediately, unlike your sister" I answered

"Oh, Sky told you. Did she also tell you that this big guy almost bit her once?" he said with a slight smile.

"No, I miss that one" I answered with a slight chuckle. Then there was a moment of silence. As I petted Sitron's main, I watched as Hans finished brushing him, then I took a look at Sitron, then back at Hans… and a crazy idea popped in my mind.

"Would you like to ride him?" I asked Hans, who almost had the brush fall out of his hands for the surprise, forcing me to hold back a giggle at his sudden goofiness.

"Pardon me, your Majesty?" he asked not sure if he had heard correctly.

"I said: would you like to go for a ride on your horse? How long has it been since you last rode him?" I repeated.

"Since I left for the Isles, but, are you serious?" he said and looked around unbelievingly "With no guards? Alone?"

"I said you're going to be guarded 24/7, so if there are no guards…" I left the sentence hanging giving him a look he understood "Go prepare Sitron and Sapphire, we're heading out for a ride" I ordered.

" _We_? As in… ' _you and I_ '?... That's it?" he said incredulously "No guards staring at me? No servants giving me warning looks? No Kristoff cracking his knuckles every time I glance at him? No Princess Anna threatening to punch me in the face again?"

"Hans, are you doubting my ability to take care of myself?" I said with a challenging look as I made my hand glow in a soft ice blue light with soft snow swirling around it.

"After an eternal winter, a giant ice monster and that showdown at the hippodrome? Absolutely not" he said raising his hands in surrender. He immediately went to a box where there was a beautiful mare as white as snow. That was Sapphire, she was 4 years-old now; she was just a colt when Mama was gifted with her. My mother never got the chance to ride her. Sapphire was too young, and by the time she could have ridden her, my parents died. I rode Sapphire, instead, but she has never really been _my_ horse. Maybe because I just rode her a couple of times or maybe because, to me that was my mother's horse. Anyway, as soon as he was done preparing Sapphire, he got all the riding equipment for Sitron and got him ready. As soon as he was done, he took the horses out of the stables as I followed. Then he swung the reins over Sapphire's head and waited for me. I walked to him until I stood in front of him. It was then that I got run over a wave of awkwardness as I realized, he had to help me up on the saddle. He too felt the awkwardness and slightly cleared his throat looking at the ground as I hesitantly put my hands on his shoulders as he put his on my waist to lift me up and place me on the side saddle. As soon as I was up, swinging my legs on the holders, I took hold of the reins and not too long after he was on his horse.

As soon as we were ready, we started our walk in silence. Sometimes I would steal a glance at him and not only to keep an eye out. Hans was quietly riding beside me. Sometimes I would notice him glancing back at me, but avert his gaze as soon as I looked at him.

"Is the weather always this nice in autumn?" Hans suddenly asked, breaking the ice and awkwardness.

"Not always, heavy pours announce storm season" I answered.

"Then we're lucky today is sunny" he said.

"Autumn is usually the season with the worst weather in Arendelle, one moment it's sunny and the next it's raining. Spring and summer are beautiful. Winter has its days" I told him.

"Is winter here all-natural or does it get a little help?" he said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Excuse me, it was one time" I said with smirk "You freeze a kingdom eternally once, it sticks with you" I added earning a small laugh from him. This conversation couldn't have gotten more surreal. A queen riding and chatting about the weather with her attempted murderer… it sounds like the start of a bad joke! Even though, I have to say, as the small talk went on, the awkwardness of the situation slowly vanished. I asked Hans how he was holding up with the servant duties he had to attend and he assured me that everything was fine, that of course, at first it wasn't as good, since he never did any of that stuff before. He had seen the maids and the servants do it back at the castle in the Southern Isles, but he said it looked much easier than it actually was. He admitted that he never thought that washing floors, scrubbing dishes, polishing mirrors and shoveling horse poop was that tiring, but he wasn't complaining, he knew he deserved it. After a while, we decided to have a little race to the lake, let the horses drink, have another small walk and then head back to the stables. As we cantered to the lake, you could say that it turned out to be a tie, none of us was actually racing. Maybe it was because I didn't want to turn my back on him, or maybe because he didn't want me to think he was going slow on purpose so that he could stay behind, either way, we started the race side by side and we finished it side by side.

"You're a very good rider, your Majesty" Hans complimented as we let our horses near the lake to drink.

"Thank you, Hans" I said "You're a very good rider yourself" He just gave me a small smile and mimicked me as I patted my horse's neck.

"When did you learn how to ride? I thought you never went out of your room" he said, curiously.

"When my parents would go to town for events and took Anna in my place as representative" I answered honestly "I would wear the gloves, sneak out of my room and go to the stables on my own, have my personal riding teacher prepare the horse and he would teach me, while my parents were out. Of course, they knew about it, but it was the only way so that I wouldn't accidentally run into Anna and risk hurting her… again" He nodded in understanding. Then we started to walk again.

"I couldn't help but notice you spend a lot of time in the library" he said.

"So do you" I answered.

"It's nice and quiet and not that hard to clean… and I sort of like reading a few lines of some books I find" he admitted shyly.

"So, instead of working you read" I stated, hiding a smile

"5 minute breaks" he answered "And then I get back to my duties. What can I say? I like reading!"

"Which is your favorite genre?" I asked him. It was then that we started a long real conversation about our tastes in books. Hans had a very refined taste in literature. We both liked to read the most different book genres. Hans was a little more into philosophy, while I was more into theatrical genres, though he admitted in having a guilty pleasure in Shakespeare and I had a guilty pleasure in geometry. He found it weird, he couldn't understand how someone could wake up in the morning and decide to read a book about solid or plane figures, angles and numbers and Thales theorems. As an answer to that, I didn't know, I just liked it. As for me, I was surprised when he admitted he liked _Romeo and Juliet_ and like me, he disliked Romeo, as he was a love-struck puppy for the whole tragedy.

"I know it's meant to be a tragedy, but if you look at it in a more logical way, there was a way out" Hans criticized "Romeo wanted to live his 'happily ever after' with Juliet. He was to be banished. The moment he goes see Juliet, instead of saying goodbye he could have asked her to come with him and run away together! I would have done if I were him" he said with a smile.

"My thoughts exactly! If I were Juliet, I'd have probably said 'yes'!" I added "Or rather, if he didn't suggested it, I would have told him to take me with him. But apart from that the language Shakespeare uses is amazing. It's elegant, it's powerful, it's clear and it hits you"

"It is" Hans agreed "Isn't it fascinating, though, how Shakespeare got most of the themes and twists from the Est Ancient culture?" he asked "And the message is not just eternal it's also –well-… hard to swallow. Hate only creates more hate and violence doesn't take you anywhere, it only creates more violence" Hans said.

"You will never realize your mistake until you lose something important" I added. It was only then that I realized how our relaxed tone has died down as we said those words. In a way they sounded dangerously too familiar. Hans and I shared a look, but this time neither of us wanted to dwell on what happened. For once, we just wanted to enjoy a walk.

"Well, that's what makes Shakespeare a genius" I replied lighting up the mood. We both smiled to one another, then I looked around and my smile vanished once again. "Uhm… Hans?" I said stopping Sapphire

"Yes, my Queen?" he said stopping Sitron as well.

"Where are we?" I asked him, not recognizing the place.

"Uhm… Actually… I was following you, Milady" he replied.

"What?!" I exclaimed, shocked "Well, do you know which direction we came from?" Hans scratched the back of his neck.

"I may have also been a little more interested in what you were saying, than to paying attention to the road" he answered, looking to the ground. He didn't know, and I didn't know…We had been so lost in our chat that we weren't even looking where we were going.

"Wonderful…we're lost…" I grumbled. If Hans and I were the start of a bad joke, this was the punch line. I started thinking over my geography lessons and tried to think which direction were the stables, but the moment I looked down, my shadow was gone. I looked up and saw that in that moment, the weather was becoming cloudy, in fact a big cloud had just covered the sun.

"Really?" I heard Hans mumble in complaint.

"Ohhh! Great!" I complained sarcastically

"Your Majesty, don't worry. We'll find the way back before sunset" Hans reassured

"How? We're lost, Anna is probably already worried, my soldiers will start looking for you, and to top it all, we can't even orientate ourselves using our shadows because it just got cloudy!" I complained.

"But look on the bright side, Milady, it can't get any-" a thunder with lightning cut him off as heavy rain started pouring down, startling our horses. Luckily none of us fell. Hans looked down in embarrassment as water poured down on him.

"Were… were you about to say 'worse'?" I said trying to contain my irritation.

"No" he answered not daring to look at me.

"You sure?"

"Positive"

"You better. Now let's find shelter before we catch pneumonia!" I said as rain soaked us.

"I couldn't agree more!" he said and kicking our horses we galloped trying to find shelter. As we galloped, the rain got the two of us both soaking wet, and the lightning and thunders weren't really that inviting. Then, miraculously, as we ran for shelter, we both saw the Old Mill, an ancient Arendellian watchtower ruin that looked like a mill. Finally we both knew how to find our way back. We galloped as fast as we could, with the horses getting more and more restless. Then finally we saw the stables and raced there until we were finally inside. As we stopped our horses, we looked at one another once again, panting, trying to catch our breath.

"Well…" Hans said passing a hand through his wet hair as I wrung out my soaked braid "That was refreshing!" he said. Silence. We looked at one another… and erupted in a small laughter.

"Come on" I said shaking my head as he got down his horse and lead him to the box "Help me down and take the saddles and bridles off of the horses" I commanded, even though I knew he was just about to do that.

"You really enjoy telling me what to do, don't you?" he said walking to me.

"Only because you're so good at following orders" I replied with a smirk as he slid his hands on my waist.

"And you at being queen" he said as I slid my hands on his shoulders as he helped me down. That last comment surprised me, but I didn't say anything also for another reason. The moment I was in front of him and close to him, as he helped me off Sapphire, I realized that the rain had soaked his shirt so much that it clung to his body and became see-through, giving a nice hint of his cut, lean physique. It was just a moment, but fortunately, before I could embarrass myself, Hans let go of me and took Sapphire by the reins, leading her to her box and took off her bridles and saddle, before doing the same with Sitron. As he was done, he sat back down on a chair, while I was about to leave.

"You're not coming?" I said.

"I'm not done with my shift" he answered.

"Soaking wet?" I said "Are you kidding me? Go back to your quarters, I'll have someone bring you some dry clothes and then you can come back to finish your shift" I said. He smiled and followed me. We walked in a comfortable silence, with him walking beside me. As we walked, we met Steward, the head stable boy, Kai, Anna and a few guards with them. As they saw me, Anna swung her arms around me telling me how worried sick she was. The guards were ready to arrest Hans but I stopped them, telling them that he had accompanied me for a ride and we got caught in the rain, leaving out the getting lost part.

"Why did you take _him_ to accompany you?!" Anna said like I had just said some blasphemy.

"I did it for the horse, Sitron was suffering without his owner" I said. Hans and I shared a small look of complicity. Then I asked Kai to bring Hans dry clothes to his quartes, so that he could finish his shift without getting sick. Of course, after that, after changing into dry clothes, I had to bare Anna's rant on how worried she was when no one found me and Hans had vanished, and how she doesn't trust him alone with me even though she knows I can impale him with an ice spike with a snap of my fingers… but to be honest. That afternoon had been worth Anna's rant.

* * *

 **And there you have it! How did you like this chapter? How is the Storm/Elsa/Hans thing going? How did you like Hans and Elsa's ride?  
To those who ask: the Drakorian is no actual language, it's me mixing up words in Greek, Irish, German and other languages. How? Translator: sentence in english, translate each word mixing up different languages.  
Let me know with your REVIEWS!  
**

 **See you next chapter!**

 **The Princess of Stars**

 ****Song Quote Challenge****

 **I quoted a song in this chapter, if you guys can guess the song, I'll send you a sneek peek of the next chapter ;-)  
Of course, you need to log in and reply, otherwise I won't be able to PM you with the sneek peek.**


	19. Punishment' is not 'Humiliation'

**Hi guys! Thank you all for your patience. I know I've been taking a while, but finally my exams for my first college years are almost over (last one in September) and since, I've been working on this for years, I know there was a lot of Skylynn, so in order to keep her in the major role she got (but still not being the leading lady), and not to throw away anything, I decided to sum up most of the Skylynn/Storm scenes in Drakora I wrote, in letters between Elsa, Sky and Hans. Result is: less Sky, still keeps her role, and Helsa centric.**

 **Unfortunately that also means that I have to re-write basically everything I have already written and you guys have caught up with me, so I have to write the new parts.**

 **With that being said...**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Elsa's POV:**

 _Dear Elsa,  
first of all let me just say that you are a genius. A snow-made peregrine falcon as a messenger so I can update you with the Storm situation? It's brilliant! Considering you said you wrote your letter yesterday, I suppose it's your magic that makes it go extra-fast, but still- it's awesome. To answer your previous question, yes, we are finally home._

 _I confess that this was the first time I left Drakora for so long. Looking at my kingdom from afar, for the first time I felt something new… the feeling of returning home. I know it may sound stupid, but it's something I never felt before, not even when I returned to the Southern Isles to convince my mom to move to Drakora… other than showing her I was alive and fine and telling her I was getting married- but that's another story. Thing is, returning felt sweet and welcome, and… home.  
As soon as you can, I want you, Anna and Kristoff to come visit one day. I know that many of the things I said might not have made it sound like Paradise, but never judge a book by its cover. The shining sun and the cool sea breeze that caress your face on deck are an open armed welcoming, that's all I'm going to say._

 _Now, I'll have to go on with the least pleasant news: Storm's trial. I promised I was going to bring him back to you, and I will, but you are not a child to whom you have to hide the truth to, so I'll be honest and tell you how things really are.  
I'll start off by saying that before we could dock, the former king Albert Westerguard was here already. Storm told me that he brought some letters that testify their association. I haven't read the letters, but I suppose it should prove that the only reason why Storm left was to protect a fellow comrade who coincidently is also a Westerguard, hence saving the hope of a possible alliance between the kingdoms. I don't need to get into details. Thing is, it might not be enough because of the consequence of his sudden 'desertion' and the act itself. Treason is not something Drakora forgives nor forgets. Being able to reintegrate him in our community is going to be hard, mostly because according to our law, unlike you with Hans, I am not the one who holds his fate in her hands._  
 _The trial shall take place tomorrow at the Palace of Justice. It shall be public and it'll be held by the Supreme Council due to the involvement of the Royal Family.  
I spoke with Princess Angel and her Prince Consort, Argos, about the trial. Argos fought with us during the rebellion as for Angel, she is not just my sister-in-law, she's a dear friend and Royal Advisor to the Crown, and they are both still confused over his actions, as before his disappearance, Storm had shown nothing but loyalty and devotion to House Panagos. Good news is that they are willing to give him a chance to explain himself and listen to him. If Angel sees that Storm is innocent, that he acted once again out of loyalty to me, she and her husband, along with Prince Albert of the Southern Isles and myself, are going to speak in Storm's favor, but what the other key members of the army will have to say is unknown to me. _

_There is also another serious matter I need to speak to you about and it concerns the first reason to why I had to return home: Weselton.  
When Angel first handed me the envelope, my first thought was: 'another trading agreement'. Unfortunately, Angel knows that when such agreements from said dukedom come and I'm not there, she is free to send a refusal. This is different. The letter doesn't exactly say what they want, but it says something about a final proposal with __**'an offer we can't refuse'**_ _. If there is a reign Drakora can defeat without any help it is indeed Weselton, but Angel and I are afraid that if the Duke is being so bold it's because he's got something up his sleeve. The Wessel ambassador will arrive tomorrow and I'll see him after Storm's trial. Tomorrow is going to be a tough day, but whatever happens I won't give up.  
_

 _I'll see to keep you updated,_

 _Take care,_

 _Skylynn_

 _P.S.  
Before you open it, the other envelope is for my brother. I know the envelope is addressed to you, but in case your snow-falcon left it on your desk while you were out, or it fell from its beak, I don't want anyone to put their nose in what Hans and I have to say to each other. I trust you'll give it to him and keep your curiosity to yourself._

I found myself smiling at the letter once I was done reading, glad that their trip went well and of hearing from my pragmatic friend. I was worried about Storm's situation, but Sky's determination was evident even in the way she wrote about the trial he was going to have. I admit that at first I was expecting her to sugarcoat the situation, but I was glad she didn't. I trusted them, so hopefully they were not going to do anything too extreme to reintegrate Storm… but with Skylynn Westerguard, you never know… _Engel-Westerguard_.  
I folded the letter and placed it safely in my drawer before picking up Hans's letter. I admit that even if some time had passed since that conversation I overheard between the two siblings, I was still tempted to know what they had to say to one another… but I kept my curiosity to myself and placed it in the drawer, ready to be delivered as soon as I was done with my duties.

Once done attending some boring but important meetings, and making sure Anna paid attention to it, I finally had some free time after lunch. Usually at about this hour, I would go for a walk with Storm around town or the royal gardens, but since Storm wasn't here, I changed into my riding outfit and headed towards the stables, but not before getting Hans's letter, in case I found him there, and placed it in my gilet pocket. I asked Anna if she wanted to join me, but sadly she declined since she had to meet with the wedding planner. I let her be and headed to the stables. The moment I got there, first thing I noticed was that there was a small fuss around one of the enclosures, I took a look and noticed there were a few of my men along with a couple of stable boys dragging a horse out of the compound. The horse, clearly, had no intention of going out as it was pulling and kicking. The next thing I noticed was that the only stable boy away from the fuss was Hans who was putting clean hay in the horses' box.

"Hans" I called taking a few steps towards him. The moment he heard his name being called, he turned around and straightened up as he saw me.

"Queen Elsa" he said bowing "Does her Majesty wish to go out for a ride? I'll go prepared Sapphire"

"I do and thank you, but can I ask you what's all that fuss about?" I said pointing at the men dragging the aggressive horse out.

"You have a rather feisty yearling in your stables, your Majesty" Hans replied "It's a young stallion and it's time for him to start training, but apparently my… _colleagues_ … don't realize that in order to do that, they need to tame him first, and by 'tame' I mean gaining it's trust" he said in a slightly bitter tone. Clearly he did not like how those men were working.

"If you're an expert, why are you here?" I asked him.

"What would an ex-prince know about training horses? Everything we have is served to us ready on a silver plate. No… mucking horse poop is a much more approachable job and perfectly suitable for a scoundrel like myself. I may have saved the Queen's life, but I lied to Arendelle once… now they're not so blind" he explained, probably quoting what the others had told him "I'll saddle your horse" he said and headed to Sapphire's box taking saddle and reins with him. I glanced back at the men and noticed how distressed the horse was, and how they were forcefully leading him to an open box and tied him to the two side poles. Then Steward, the head of the stable boys, a tall buff man with sandy blonde buzz cut hair and a thick mutton chomps beard stepped forward. First thing he did was take a brush and heading to the horse's main, but the horse clearly had no intention of being touched as his ears were held back.

"And… bite" Hans muttered and in that moment, the horse moved its head and bit Steward's hand. The stable boy held his hand and glared at the horse. I turned towards Hans, slightly impressed by his timing. I glanced back at my men and watched as they held the horse, while one of them forced a sack on its mouth, before forcing his head down and tying it tightly to the side wood poles. Steward went to brush its dark brown mane again, but the horse smartly moved to the side and squashed his bitten hand between his shoulder and the wood pole. Steward let out a yelp of pain and fell on his butt as the horse moved away freeing his hand. I glanced back at Hans who was soothingly petting Sapphire's shiny white coat, then he took the reins and led Sapphire out of the box and not too far away from me.

"Your horse is ready, Milady" Hans said. I looked away from Steward and took a step towards Sapphire.

"Thank you" I said, then I gently stroked her muzzle as she nuzzled my hand "Hey, beautiful girl" I said softly, petting her neck, but when I turned to the side to ask Hans to help me up, he was there, and I mean _right_ there. I almost bumped on him. The closeness felt a little awkward. Hans cleared his throat and took a small step back.

"I- I apologize, your Majesty" he stuttered.

"No, it's fine. I didn't notice you were there already" I apologized.

"Shall I…?" he shyly let the sentence hanging.

"Yes, please" I said. There was once again a moment of awkwardness when helping me up on the horse, he placed his hands on my waist and I placed mine on his shoulders as he lifted me up to the side- saddle. I settled myself on the saddle when I heard Hans mutter:

"You've got to be kidding me…" he said looking incredulously towards the horse. I followed his gaze and noticed that the yearling had been tied to the sides, so that he couldn't move to squash Steward's hands any longer.

"You think you can do better?" I asked him with a challenging smirk.

"Will all due respect, my Queen, I _know_ I can do better" he replied confidently. As we glanced forward, we saw Steward bending down and taking the horse's right front leg and was about to clean the hoof… but the horse slipped the leg away and hit the stable boy's butt with the hoof, sending him falling face first with a hoof footprint on his backside. "Much better" Hans added raising his eyebrows amused at the man. I didn't say anything but an amused smile formed on my lips, amused at both Steward and Hans. Steward's helpers immediately rushed to him and helped him up before getting other ropes and tie the horse's front legs to the poles.

"That is no way to treat a horse!" Hans complained. I turned to look at him and couldn't agree more "He's a yearling, he's young, afraid and has no idea what they are doing. He needs to trust them first. If they tie him up like a piece of salami he's not going to do that anytime soon and it's going to make the training harder" he said.

"Have you ever trained a horse?" I asked him.

"I have, I tamed and trained Sitron" he replied. Then an idea popped to my mind, both to relieve the horse from being tied up like that and to test Hans.

"Would you mind walking me there?" I asked him. Hans looked up at me surprised at first, but nodded.

"Of course" he said and grabbed Sapphire's reins leading my horse to the open box. I told him to stop a few meters away. Once again, Steward had caught the horse's front leg and went back to cleaning it, but, the horse lifted his back leg to the front.

"Steward look out!" a man said, Steward looked up and the horse hit him square in the face making him fall on his butt again.

"Ouch…" Hans muttered "See, my Queen? They're like people. The horse is just more frightened than he was before! Like you when-" he immediately cut himself off looking away as I glanced down at him from my mare. Silence. Hans embarrassedly looked back up at me "I-I'm sorry… that wasn't-"

"-No, please, continue. Like me when…?" I challenged. Hans looked at me in the eyes and boldly continued.

"When the volunteers and I assaulted you in the ice palace. You were scared from the beginning, having no idea what was going to happen now that your powers had been revealed. When we attacked you, you were trapped and your fear only grew to the point that… when you were defending yourself you almost became the threat. Fear was fueling your anger" he said.

"A very accurate description…" I commented. What else did I have to say? He could read people very well and he had clearly understood how I had felt in that moment. I glanced back at the men, who hadn't noticed me, then I glanced back at Hans.

"Would you like to give it a try?" I asked Hans. He looked up at me surprised "I'm serious. Would you like to try taming the horse and show my men that they've underestimated you?" Hans's surprised look morphed into a cheeky half grin.

"With pleasure, my Queen"

"Gentlemen" I called. All eyes turned to me.

"Queen Elsa!- Your Majesty!" they said bowing at me.

"I see you're having trouble with this yearling" I said nonchalantly motioning towards Steward's swelling black eye "You look like you need some ice, Steward" I said and taking out a tissue, with a wave of my hand I put some ice in it and closing the tissue in a sack, motioned Steward to come take it. The middle aged stable boy, quietly thanked me putting the ice on his eye.

"No, it's just that this young stallion is quite a… feisty one" one of them said.

" _Feisty_ is an understatement" Steward said "I can't even put the horse shoes on him without getting kicked! In my years I've never had a horse like this one. This beast is far too nervous for battle, let alone, pleasure walks. His mind is broken. It can't be ridden" he said.

"My father said the same thing about Queen Skylynn's stallion. It was a yearling when she got it, but she was the only one among my brothers who got to tame and ride him" Hans said.

"No one asked for your opinion, ex-prince. Go finish your job" Steward harshly snapped.

"Horses are like people. If one is much more different than the others, than you need a different approach" Hans argued "Let me try"

" _You?_ " another said mockingly, as others snickered among themselves.

"Go back to muck horse poop, it'll be much better" another mocked.

"Yeah! That's were scoundrels like you belong" another ridiculed

"Why are you being so harsh, gentleman?" I interrupted narrowing my eyes at them "Yes, the former prince did his wrongs, but he's trying to make up for it, there is no need to ridicule him" the men lowered their heads "Besides, if an ex-prince doesn't know a thing about taming horses and mucking horse poop is a much suitable job for a scoundrel, what are you afraid of? That he might actually find a way to tame the horse? If that stallion can't be tamed, than Mr. Westerguard is going to find out for himself" I said eyeing him. The other men moved away from the animal. Hans looked at me and I gave him a nod. He slowly walked to the horse and did hushing sounds as he untied the horse's ropes. The moment he also freed the stallion from the sack on its muzzle, the horse's head snapped up, in a way glaring at Hans and getting restless. The horse's ears were tightly bent back, clearly angered by his presence. But Hans didn't flinch, instead he slowly moved a hand towards him, but with confidence, hushing the horse. A smirk appeared on my face when the others looked, between surprised and offended when Hans managed to place his hand on the horse's muzzle and stroke his neck as the stallion's ears slowly moved forward. Then keeping a hand on its neck, Hans grabbed the brush and gently brushed its mane, softly whispering things to the horse to soothe him. When he was done brushing, Hans went back to the horse's face and stroked him gently. Then keeping a hand on the horse's coat, he followed the line of its neck down its shoulder and to the knee and with a gentle swift movement, he got the horse's leg up. Not too long after, Hans was done cleaning the hooves and putting the horse shoes on each hoof.

"There you go" he said petting it's neck "See, that wasn't too bad" he said. Then Hans untied the horse from the poles and gently lead it inside the enclosure where he was going to be trained. I looked towards Steward. He was looking at Hans impressed by how he single handedly managed to ease the horse, relaxing it and getting it to trust him. As Hans started walking around the enclosure with the horse at his side, petting its neck or keeping a hand on it, Steward caught my gaze. In that moment I realized we both had the same idea, but he needed my permission. With a glance and a nod of the head towards Hans, I gave Steward that permission. The man gave me a small bow and walked to the enclosure keeping the ice on his black eye.

"Westerguard!" he called. Hans turned his attention to him, but kept an eye on the horse as the animal immediately drew its ears back, but Hans soothed it "If you manage to ride that horse today, training duty is yours… you seem to be more useful at that than at mucking poop" he added.

"Then tell your other assistants that they might as well get ready to take my place in the mucking department" Hans replied with a confident smirk. Steward looked back at me and gave me an apologetic bow, silently apologizing for his and his men's earlier behavior. Seeing as I wasn't needed anymore, I politely bid my goodbyes to the stable boys and headed out for a quiet relaxing walk. Sapphire was much calmer than Sitron, so she didn't get restless if I didn't canter a bit, she was fine with walking. Usually I would canter around, but today, I felt more like a nice long walk, feeling the autumn wind blow on my face.  
It was impressive how Hans could read people and animals so well. What he had said earlier could have sounded like an insult, being compared to a horse, but truth was, I was indeed the perfect example, and Hans had once again known how to interact with the _different_ element. No surprise that when I got back to the stables, Hans was in the enclosure putting the saddle on the horse. Steward was checking on him, since I had order for him to be guarded 24/7. I commanded Sapphire to halt and watched.

Hans was just done putting the saddle on the horse and was about to put the reins in its mouth, however, the stallion didn't seem too happy about that. Hans then did something that surprised us. He hushed the horse and then, opened his mouth and got the bite close his lips and pretended to bite it (without putting it in his mouth), then he put the bridles on his head. Now, that was one singular way to get a horse to put the bite in its mouth. Then Hans took the bridles off of him and gave the horse the bite, which the animal took almost instantly, then he put the bridles on the horse's head and adjusting the harness, the yearling was ready to be ridden. Hans petted the horse's neck, then he went on the left side and mounted the horse. The animal stirred a little nervously, standing on its back legs for a few seconds, but Hans caressed its neck making it calm down. Then he lightly kicked and the horse started to move and a walking pace around the enclosure. Hans let it walk around for a few minutes encouragingly patting its neck. Then he kicked again and a little harder and the horse started to trot around the fence. As the stallion seemed to get a little more confidence, Hans kicked a little more. At first there was some complaining, but after soothing it, Hans tried it again and got it to canter around the enclosure.

"I can't believe it… Ex-Princey did it" Steward said, mostly to himself, but I heard. Steward walked towards the enclosure's gate and opened it. Hans saw him and halted the horse, making it come to a stop.

"I rode him" Hans told him proudly.

"And tamed it" Steward said, but did not dare to touch it yet "A deal is a deal. You're not off the care duty, but you're done mucking poop. Training duty is yours"

"Thank you" Hans said and patted the horse's neck.

"I like your technique, but it is kind of slow, you think you can speed that up?"

"No, sir. It mostly depends on the horse's attitude, but efficiency takes time" Hans replied.

"These horses are for our soldiers, we don't have all the time of the world" Steward replied.

"Tell me, Steward. If you were to go to battle, would you prefer to go with a companion you don't know or someone you've got a strong bond with?" Hans asked.

"Well, a trustworthy companion, that's for sure" Steward replied.

"So, would you prefer a horse you don't know or a horse with whom you've built a good trust bond with?" I asked, preceding Hans's question, as I walked closer on my horse.

"Your Majesty" the two men said bowing "A horse with whom I've built a trust bond" the stable boy replied "My Queen, with all due respect, I have heard of these techniques, but your father had very strict requests" Once again my face fell, but I didn't show it… my father was very demanding in the military field. Our country was peaceful, but if there was one thing he was aware was that if the soldiers did not train, because of the peace, there was a high chance for them not to be ready when war came. This had been matter of discussion in today's council meeting.

"I am aware of that and I don't blame you for doing your job how you were used to. Tomorrow you'll receive new orders" I told him. Steward bowed. Then I looked up at Hans.

"Hans, would you mind accompanying me for a walk? I'd like to speak with you" I said "Plus, I believe walking with another horse, such as Sapphire, will be good for the yearling's training"

"Of course, my Queen" Hans said.

"I'll go get a horse" the stable boy said.

"No, need Steward. I'll take it from here" I said stopping him before he could get a horse to chaperone us "Mr. Westerguard is well aware of my abilities" Steward bowed his head and walked away, as Hans had the yearling walk towards me. As soon as he was next to me, we both walked away heading for the ice-harvester's mountains. Silence ruled among us until we were far from the stables.

"Thank you, Queen Elsa" Hans said quietly "But why?" he asked.

"I don't know about you, but in my world 'punishment' doesn't mean 'humiliation'" I replied "Whether I like it or not, you saved my life and I didn't get you to work in the castle to be humiliated. To me 'punishment' is a way to try making up for your deeds through hard work and some… 'meditation'… let's call it that. Humiliation only fuels anger and stress until you get to a breaking point, like that horse. And usually when you get to a breaking point, you make bad choices, like you did" Silence ruled between us, as I knew I had nailed it "After what your brothers put you through, they made you get to that breaking point. Seeing what happened when you came here for your trial, I suppose humiliation and neglect were far worse than the physical pain" Another heavy silence. It was just a few seconds, but Hans's features had slightly furrowed. He did not like the way I had just read him, mostly because I knew I was right, but then he looked back at me.

"For someone who's been isolated from the world you're quite perceptive, are you?" Hans said eyeing me.

"Things are different when looked at from the outside after having been in it" I replied "You have been behaving yourself for now, but you've got a long way to go, Hans"

"I know and I wanted to thank you… for your trust" he said and my eyes met his gaze.

"I'm not giving you my trust, I'm giving you the fair second chance your sister asked me to give you" I said severely... but… _lying_ as well… to him and to myself, for it was not Skylynn who made me choose to give him a second chance.

"Then thank you for your clemency" he corrected himself.

"Now _that_ is something you have to thank me for" I replied but I couldn't help a tiny smile.

"Believe me, I know. That's why I did" he replied, Hans too with the hint of a smile "And also thank you for keeping-…" he suddenly paused with a tiny smile "Never mind"

"No, no, Hans. What were you saying?" I said, with a challenging look. Hans glanced at me. This was one of his weaknesses, he was always up for the challenge and didn't back down easily.

"The only reasons why I keep some thoughts to myself are because you are the queen and have people looking up to you for guidance. I wouldn't want others to think of my comments and remarks as defiance to your authority or show your weaknesses" he replied.

"Well, for starters, you and I are the only ones here. Second, I might have given that impression but I'm not made of glass" I replied with a glacial look.

"It's not hard to see that beneath all that ' _Obey-Me-I'm-The-Queen_ ' thing and your icy gift, you're actually a softie… but not made of glass… and I'm not scared of telling you what I think to your face. What I meant is that I know my place at the moment" Hans replied.

"In that case I'll have you know that I'm not afraid of your snarky mouth and jabs" I replied, although his comment on my ice powers did not go by unnoticed "Besides, I've kind of grown used to Skylynn and she is much more direct. I suppose you know that very well"

"If by 'direct' you mean 'insults you straight to your face and is not afraid of hurting your feelings', then yes, I know that. She's not a fan of tact when it comes to give people she cares about a wakeup call" he replied with a small smile.

"Well, then. Now that we've cleared things up. Finish that sentence" I said challenging him "You also wanted to thank me for keeping…?"

"For keeping Princess Anna on a leash" he replied with no hesitation. I don't know how I managed to, but I held back a small laugh, only allowing a small upward twitch of my lips to show as I try to look at him impassively.

"And I was going to compliment you on your taming skills…" I said feign offence. Hans was dumbstruck for a moment, before sporting a proud look.

"Oh… you know what? Thank you"

"Well, I didn't! I said I was _going to_ " I replied making him laugh, a real genuine laugh.

"Still, my face is thankful" Hans said. I lightly shook my head.

"Anyway" I said turning back to him "Is that the way they teach you how to tame a horse in the Southern Isles?" I asked motioning towards the young stallion calmly walking beside Sapphire.

"No. Back in the Southern Isles they don't train horses, they break them" he replied patting the horse's neck "Willingly or not, the horses have to be trained in a certain time at a certain speed. What I did with this guy is self-taught. Horses are like people, you treat them well and respect them, they will be loyal to you and treat you the same way. If you mistreat and neglect them, they will have no regards to you, but will obey you out of fear… until they get to that breaking point and throw you off the saddle… from my experience, in a way, horses are better than people. With horses you're sure that respecting them they will be loyal and respect you back… but you can't say the same about people"

 _Look who's talking!_ Was my first thought.

"I know, my Queen: _look who's talking!_ " he said and I restrained myself from looking at him with wide eyes "And you're right…" there was a moment of silence. I looked at his face, studying him. He was looking down at the yearling petting its mane. He looked deep in thought.

Never in a million years I would have thought to see Hans so… shaken by what he did. That man in front of me was like a huge shattered puzzle that in order to understand you needed to put together, but the more pieces you put together, the more the puzzle seemed to complicate. I'll never forget the way I looked at him for the first time, when he and Anna asked for my blessing for their marriage. I knew he had seen the silent question I was asking him with my eyes, when I told Anna she couldn't marry a man she just met: " _What are you up to?"_.

I saw Hans as 'the nice guy', the handsome, charming, heroic prince. . I saw him as he who stopped me from becoming the monster everyone feared me to be. I saw him as the loyal soon-to-be-brother-in-law when he was the first to actually realize I really didn't know how to thaw the Eternal Winter. Then I was tricked like everyone else. After that I saw Hans as the heartless villain who humiliated and fooled my little sister, the ruthless murderer, the sadistic villain, the arrogant selfish cad, the beastlike prisoner. Once again, when I thought that I had finally figured out who he was, more pieces of the puzzle came up.

I saw Hans as a helpless prisoner, a neglected and abused younger brother. I saw him cry, I saw a man who had lost everything and had lost faith in everything. I never forgot about that conversation I overheard, where he told his sister about his real thoughts on Anna and I, he never thought of us as villains (on his side) and he always thought my powers were _amazing_ and _beautiful,_ not to mention that he actually referred to them as _magic_ and not too long ago he referred to them as a _gift_.

I saw him remorseful and I saw him sincere when we had that first talk, when he looked at me in the eyes and said: _"I'm sorry"_. He had saved my life more than once. Ever since I gave him that sort of 'promotion' and allowed him to leave the dungeons and not wear the shackles, I saw him as someone who was trying. Trying to get better. As I looked at him in that moment, I saw the same look he had when he told me he was sorry… but we didn't need to go back on that conversation again.

"Would you like to name him?" I asked him, abruptly changing the subject. Hans looked up at me like I had just spoken in the Ancient language.

"Name him?" he asked.

"This is the first horse you've tamed for my soldiers and it is thanks to him if you're now off the poop shoveling duty. Do you want to name him?" I replied. Hans looked at me with a face that was between smiling, confused and shocked.

"Uhm… sure… really? May I?" he asked.

"For this once, yes"

"Okay, uhm…" he looked thoughtful

"Not Bucephalus" I interjected before he got the idea "Anything but Bucephalus" Hans's lips formed into a small side smile

"Why not? It means 'ox-head', meaning 'strong and stubborn' like oxen" he replied.

"You're seriously asking me why not?" I said raising an eyebrow. Hans looked confused.

"Yes" Silence. I theatrically gave him a smug look.

"What a _bucephalus_!" I said like I had just insulted him. Hans remained confused for a moment, then his mouth shaped into an 'O' as he theatrically nodded his head, once it finally clicked.

"You're right. I'm a real bucephalus" he replied getting my joke, with a smile grazing his lips as he tried to stay serious. The small walk was about to end as Hans suggested names for the horse, only to settle with Arnost. Basically he was going to call him 'strong and stubborn' in another language, but I guess it fitted him. As we got back to the stables, Hans first got off the horse and put him back in its box, then he came back to me as I placed my hands on his shoulders and he placed his on my waist, he to helped me off mine. I knew this was necessary, because with a dress and a side-saddle sliding down wasn't the best of ideas and very unqueenly-like (unless you're Skylynn who wears a uniform, is athletic, rides bareback and, most of all, doesn't give a crap about what others think about her), but I still couldn't help but feel awkward when I was so close to him, the same was for him, I could sense it.

As I was off the horse and Hans took a small step away from me, I expected him to give me his usual bow and go back to his duties, hurrying off. This time, though, he stood there and broke the silence.

"Thank you again, your Majesty" he said looking at me in the eyes "I mean it" To anyone it would look like something stupid. Like if he was making tending horses a big deal, but I knew better. It wasn't about being 'promoted' to horse trainer. It was about me defending him and giving him a chance to make up for his actions little by little.

"It's my duty, Hans" I replied "As queen, I need to be fair… to _everyone_ " He didn't reply. He just looked down to his feet, breaking the eye contact, but a tiny smile was grazing his lips although he tried to hide it. The I remembered of my small delivery for him.

"Oh, and Hans" I started taking the envelope out of my riding gilet pocket "You've got mail. It's from Sky. I don't need to explain why it is addressed to me, do I?" I said handing him the letter. Hans shook his head chuckling.

"No, you don't" he replied, but the moment he went for the letter, his words regarding my powers came back to my mind.

"But I need to ask you something first" I said pulling the letter away. Hans looked at me slightly surprised, but nodded his head, ready to listen "Earlier, you called my powers a gift…"

"Yes, I did" he replied calmly, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"But- why?" I just had to ask, it mattered to me a lot more than anyone could imagine. Hans remained silent for a moment looking at me like I had just asked the most obvious question in the world.

"Because they are" he replied simply. There was no trace of mockery or lie in his voice. Actually, he sounded like my question had surprised him. His reply though, was a shocker to me.

"After everything that's happened?!" was my reply "Yes, I'm getting the hang of it, but… with the Eternal Winter, you should see them as a curse!" I said incredulously.

"Only because you want it to be" he replied calmly. That caught me off guard. It took me a second to let his words sink in.

"Excuse me?" I said uncertainly.

"Your magic is a curse to you only because you want to see it like that" he explained, sincerity deep in his emerald eyes "I saw your ice palace. It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I met your talking snowman at the stables. When he realized who I was, he tried to threaten me in case I tried to hurt either you or your sister, but he was actually really cute in his attempt. He made me think of a little boy confronting his mom's new boyfriend" I couldn't help but lower my eyes, and let a small giggle escape me. _Oh, Olaf…_ "A curse doesn't create anything like that" he finished.

"And what about all the rest?" I asked.

"You lost control and it happens, even to ordinary people. This magic you have is part of who you are. You are the one who decides, not your powers, and they are what you see them as. I see them as a gift… what about you?" he said that in a soft voice, encouragingly. Part of me was screaming not to give in to his kind words, but when I searched in his features, in his eyes, there was no trace of lie. If anything, it seemed like he was trying to comfort me and help me accept who I am, because- who was I kidding?- if I was still afraid and insecure about my powers it was only because I was still afraid of myself.  
After a long moment I raised my eyes back to meet his and handed him the letter.

"Thank you… for your answer" I said shyly. Hans gave me a small reassuring smile, gently taking the envelope from my hands. I bid my goodbyes to him and walked away, but when I got a few feet away, I couldn't help myself: I looked back to him as he walked Sapphire into the box, and found him glancing back at me. Caught in the act, we immediately looked away and went our separate ways.

* * *

 **And there you have it! So? What do you think? What do you think Weselton wants from Drakora? What do you think of Hans and Elsa? Your opinion on Elsa standing up for Hans? Your opinion on Hans sharing his true feelings on Elsa's powers with her? Most important question: what do you think of Hans?**

 **Okay, in this chapter I quoted some scenes from three movies and a TV series: can you guess which ones? ;-)**

 **I'll try to update as soon as possible.**

 **See you next chapter!**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	20. Letters

**Hey guys! I'm back to Rome and back with my Internet connection! Here's your chapter for the day! This is kind of all three Elsa/Hans/Sky POV.**

* * *

 _Dear Skylynn,  
thank you for keeping me updated with Storm's situation. Postponing the trial can be used to your advantage; the Supreme Council needs time to think and you can use that time to figure out a strategy and find the right words to convince them Storm is not a traitor. I'm not going to lie, I am worried about him, but I am also concerned about you. I can tell you're nervous and frustrated with the situation and I'm sure your father's presence doesn't help you relax. Storm is your friend and having to put aside your feelings and act as a neutral party can be hard and believe me, I know. I don't believe it is even entirely possible conceal your true feelings like that, but if there is one thing I know is that you can get him out of this situation, don't lose hope. You can do this._

 _Now, regarding the other problem, I understand you didn't have the time to speak with the Wessel ambassador and had to postpone that as well. I agree, I don't like this either. I remember that Weselton and Drakora have a recent bad history and considering what happened during the Eternal Winter, just like you said, I wouldn't be surprised if whatever it is they want involves Arendelle as well, especially now that we are allies. I know you have a lot on your mind, but I don't think you should keep them waiting too much, it would just give them time to study you and your kingdom. Don't give them that chance… and by "don't give them that chance" I don't mean "start planning assassinations"!_

 _Okay, with that being said, I'd like to tell you a few things about Hans and his behavior_.  
 _Did I tell you that, a few days ago, my horse accidentally stepped on your brother's foot causing him a small limp? Don't worry. Today, while Hans was busy cleaning the library's high shelves, I noticed him being quite agile while quickly going up and down the ladder, meaning that he's perfectly fine. I also wanted to tell you that he accomplishes his duties in a rather attentive and passionate way. In fact, I noticed that sometimes he sneakily puts certain missing books back in place, it's adorable. Sometimes when he sees me immersed in my work and taking down notes, Hans remains still, perched up on the ladder, running through the pages of the library's rarest books. Last time, I suddenly raised my head and stared up at him and he quickly pretended to be dusting every page of that precious book, looking back at me as if he was doing something very important. I'm not going to lie, Sky, it is hard not to laugh._

 _This reminds me that the other day, there was an important dinner with the new ministers and Hans was told to serve the drinks for the evening and we had served one of our best champagnes. The more the ministers took the glasses away from his tray, the more Hans's eyes grew suffering. At some point he was left standing at the back of the room with one glass left on his tray, clearly fighting the urge of tasting it. The moment I was supposed to deliver a small speech, while all the ministers' eyes were on me, I saw Hans taking the last glass. The instant he was about to bring the glass to his lips, our eyes met and his face showed nothing but his confidence. He lifted up his glass and drank in my honor. He did it with such a natural aristocratic elegance, that I accepted his toast and didn't find it in me to have him arrested. For a moment, in that simple gesture, I saw the prince within him._

 _Naturally, I'm telling you this because I want you to know that his rehabilitation path is going well. He's still got a long way to go, but for the moment, his efforts won't be vain. Of course, I'm also only focusing on Hans's state to reassure you, as I am aware that you have a lot on your plate_ _at the moment_ _._

 _Thank you for your updates. Send Storm my regards and I wish you luck, to the both of you._

 _Take care_

 _Elsa_

* * *

 _Dear Elsa,  
in case you're wondering, yes, I wrote back the moment your snowfalcon arrived. Storm's final hearing is in a couple of hours, I will update you as soon as I can. Fingers crossed, things will be fine.  
You were right about three things, though. Yes, Prince Albert's presence stresses me out, I am nervous and I am frustrated, but it is not about hiding my friendship with Storm and being a neutral party. I am frustrated because the rigid tradition, values and juridical code in my kingdom are a double edged sword. Yes, concealing your true emotions is hard, impossible, but guess what: you learn and even if you are good enough to fool everyone, something is always going to give away your façade.  
To be neutral and to be efficient you need to be logical. The heart, instinct, emotions, they can give you an input, but it is your head that elaborates it to make it efficient and allow you to make difficult choices. I am nervous, because for the first time I have my hands tied and I'm learning how to manage the situation with the life of a dear friend at stake. I am frustrated because I have to think about my kingdom as well, because in a situation like this sentimentality is a weakness. My people knows that I want Storm's reintegration and rehabilitation, but if they think I'm doing this out of friendship and not out of justice, Storm and I are done. He will die and I will lose my credibility. I am frustrated because this outcome is not fair! It isn't fair that someone like Prince Albert gets off the hook and an innocent man dies after sacrificing his reputation to save someone! Regardless, I thank you for your encouragement. I haven't lost hope, nor was planning on it. I won't give up. Not now, not ever._

 _Now, I'll be brief regarding Weaseltown. Your advice came in a little late, I already took care of it, and by "took care of it" I mean that I unleashed Argos on them. Yes, Angel is the real diplomat, but her husband kills with kindness. The best tactic in war and diplomacy is making the enemy get very comfortable, because when you attack he won't be ready. Say one thing and mean another. Especially since I'll be 'finally' meeting the ambassador after Storm's final hearing._

 _I'm happy to hear that my big brother has such an attentive and observant guardian… it will be certainly helpful to his rehabilitation. Most of all, knowing that Hans secretly borrows books and drinks champagne locking eyes with you is definitely essential to my reassurance._

 _I'll write you again later and thank you again for your support and updates.  
I'll tell Storm you said 'hi'._

 _Take care_

 _Skylynn_

* * *

Dear Sky,

 _I'm happy to hear Storm has been reintegrated in Drakora and is back to be your Commandant/ General/ or whatever he is in your ranking system. Mostly, I'm glad to hear that you two finally made up again. Don't be so harsh on him. Sky, Storm cares about you very much. You can put up all the masks you want, but he knows that you've been hurt by Father, and he's right when he says you need to let it go and put it behind you. This anger you have towards him is gnawing you on the inside and it's not good for you. I won't press the matter. This is between you and him._

 _I've been meaning to tell you something regarding my stable boy duties, even if you already know, probably. Elsa had me 'promoted', instead of shoveling horse poop, from now on I won't just take care of horses I will also tame and train them. I'm telling you this, because when I got 'promoted' Elsa and I spoke. She's so much more different than I expected her to be. I knew that she was different from her sister, but I didn't expect her to be… you know, her._

 _You know how much I love to read, but since I finished the five books I have in my room several times already, I kind of pushed my luck. As I told you before, Elsa usually spends a lot of time in the library to gather information for political or economic matters, sometimes even just to find a quiet place to read in peace and relax. The other day, while working in the library, Elsa was there working. I was supposed to clean the top shelves, so I took it as the perfect occasion to put back the latest book I secretly borrowed. Unfortunately, while going up and down the ladder, another book caught my eye. So, I stood still perched up on top of the ladder and glanced down at Elsa. She wasn't looking at me, entirely absorbed in her book and taking notes from it. I noticed that she must be so used to be reading and writing at the same time that she doesn't even look at the paper she's writing on to make sure she's writing straight. She has a natural elegance that makes concentrating on politics and writing for three hours in a row look effortless. The only thing that gives away that she's getting tired is when she either slowly runs her fingers through her hair taking a deep breath or puts her quill down and lightly stretches her fingers while reading, only to go back to writing a moment later. So, while she was busy reading, I quietly remained up the ladder and went through the pages of that book I saw. It is going to be my next read.  
Everything was going well, it was quiet and I was enjoying my read, glancing back at Elsa every now and then to make sure she didn't look at me. Then, she suddenly lifted her head up and stared up at me and I did the first thing that popped into my mind: dusting the pages and act like I was working. Stupid, I know.  
For a split of a second I thought she was going to remind me to go back to work, instead Elsa didn't say anything. She simply lightly shook her head and went back to her book. I took it as my cue to put the book back and return to my duties, but I won't hide that hearing her quietly laugh at me made me smile._

 _Now, I know you're going to scold me so bad after you read this. Not too long ago there was an important dinner with the new ministers and I was told to serve the drinks for the evening and Kai had served one of the best Arendellian champagnes. I think that Kai had me serve on purpose to see me suffer! It was a 1598 Runic Sea! It had been terribly requested that year, even in the Southern Isles! Anyway, while serving the drinks (fighting the urge of tasting it), I kept glancing at Elsa. It wasn't a ball or anything too special, but I have to say, she looked beautiful in her formal attire. The incarnation of what a queen should be. The new ministers were looking at her with respect, listening to her every word and she listened back to them when they expressed their opinions. The only one not exactly behaving according to the savoir-faire was Anna, she has the bad habit of speaking a little too freely when she feels comfortable, fortunately, Elsa managed to get her to tone it down only with the regality of her eyes.  
At the end of the dinner, Elsa had to make a small speech. All eyes were set on her, I had only one glass left on my trey and… for some reason I felt like I was participating to this reunion and took the last glass. Elsa was the only one who could see me and she was looking at me. I was supposed to put the glass down, instead, I lifted it up in her honor and I drank it, tasting the champagne in two long sips. I did it feeling once again the prince I was born to be. It took me a moment to realize what I just did. Incredibly, Elsa accepted my gesture and drank her champagne with the elegance and composure of a queen in front of a prince. It lasted just for a moment… the next, my trey was submerged by trembling empty glasses to take back into the kitchen, but it felt nice anyway._

 _Well, that's all from Arendelle! Send Storm my regards and my congratulations for his reintegration.  
Take care of yourself_

 _Love_

 _Hans_

* * *

 **And there you have it! So... how do you think the Helsa is going? I believe that in one sentence in Sky's reply to Elsa it is clear she is a Helsa shipper, even if she doesn't even fully realize it.  
Tell me what you think with your reviews and I'll see you soon!  
Thank you for your patience, for reading and for taking time to review  
**

 **Until next chapter!**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	21. AN: I messed up

**Hi guys!  
I'm sorry, this is not an update, but I just wanted to say, that if someone doesn't find their review in some of the chapters, it is because, while trying to delete a "negative" review with absolutely no constructive criticism or anything like that, I messed up and deleted two positive ones. So, in order not to delete any others, I'll keep that comment that I suppose was meant to offend the Helsa fans like myself.  
Sorry :-(  
**

 **I'll see you on the next chapter**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	22. Book Exchange

**Elsa's POV:**

After reading Skylynn's response to my letter regarding her brother, I could do nothing but shake my head with a small snicker at her comment regarding Hans and I _'locking eyes while drinking champagne'_. Typical Sky... always ready to tease you when given the chance. Like I said before she pretty much grew to be like a very annoying older sister to me. Not to mention that, being her queen herself, I realized I had pretty much sold Hans out. He was _so_ getting one big lecture from her, once she returned.  
Unfortunately, I was not able to write her back immediately and she said that she was going to write me later today after Storm's final hearing, so, I sent the snowfalcon back to her and returned to my duties. I admit, I was a nervous about Storm, but he had nothing to hide and the fact that he went back to Drakora to clear his name for me was very noble, not to mention that it meant that he cared about me. I trusted him and Sky, if they said they were both going to be back, they will both come back.  
After sending the falcon back to Drakora, I went to some meeting with a few ministers and after that, I headed to the library, preparing myself for a council meeting I was going to attend to in the week. I think that I broke my record of book searching, because when I was done and found what I needed to know, I realized that the table I was sitting at was a mess of books and notes. Now, I know I have servants, but to me, leaving a mess like that for the servants to clean up means being disrespectful. Plus, I was taught that if you take something, you put it back in place, because the servants are there for the castle manteinance and services, not to clean your mess. Fortunately, when I heard well known a male voice asking if I could use some help and looked up finding Hans standing in front of me, with a shy smile on his face, I soon found myself with him on my tail and his hands full of the books I needed to put back in order.

"Politics" Hans stated as he looked at the first book "I suppose you've been reading all of these not for your own pleasure"

"You're right. I needed to see some stuff" I answered.

"Was it satisfying?" he asked placing another book back in place.

"I found what I was looking for, so yes, it was"

"But boring"

"You can say that" he chuckled putting away the book.

"If I may ask, what is it that her Majesty was looking for?" he asked curiously, passing me a book I put back in place.

"Nothing really interesting… I just needed to refresh my memory on our recent history with other kingdoms and some updates on the other realms' situation for, you know… trade and other stuff" I replied.

"Ordinary updating sessions" he stated "… exciting"

"Very" I added with his same sarcasm. He let a tiny smile play on his lips and then we were silent again as we kept on putting the books back. These silent moments weren't awkward, it actually felt comfortable. First of all, because now I got used to his presence and second of all, Hans did his job without a complaint, followed my instructions and did everything swiftly. I knew he was an analyzer, a trait his sister had inherited, so whether we spoke or not, Hans eventually learned some things about me and the people he worked with just by observing or sneaking a peak at what they were doing, or in my case, the books I was reading. Speaking of books in reading process…

"Are you enjoying your books?" I asked him, all of a sudden. Hans shrugged, as he put the last book on the high shelf.

"I did when I first read them" he replied.

"But?"

"But they're the same 5 books I have on the shelf and I already read them all at least three times! And it's not like I'm really allowed to borrow books from the library" Hans said, giving me a glance as we both knew exactly what he was referring to.

"At least three times already?"

"I may work all day, tire myself out and have some free-time only after 9:30 p.m., but I am a fast reader like yourself. Plus, they are stories. It's true that with more than one read you learn more, but were they philosophy books it'd be much more entertaining"

"Your obsession with philosophy shall forever remain a mystery to me" I stated putting another book up the shelf.

"Yeah, well, your obsession with _geometry_ shall forever remain a mystery to me. How are lines, squares and cubes entertaining? Or those annoying theorems that you have to follow to get to the solution because _'that's just the rule'_? " he replied putting back the last book on the shelf.

"Well, how do you find entertaining reading all those intricate reasoning processes that only someone who probably didn't have anything better to do could come up with? I admit that it is interesting to see how human ways of reasoning have changed throught the centuries, and I get why they would do that in the Ancient Culture, but those in the past few centuries? There's science and sociological studies as well as anthropological ones!"

"Do _not_ say such blasphemy!" he said almost indignant, pointing his finger at me, but he knew that I kind of had a point "Philosophy is the perfect fusion of literature and logic!"

"Geometry is the perfect fusion of logic and art!"

" _Art_?"

"Yes, art. You just need to be a little creative. How do you think I created the ice palace you liked so much?"

"And I'm the one who's got a big ego?" he said raising an eyebrow.

"I'm not calling my ice palace is a work of art, but- oh, stop acting like you don't know what I mean!" we both huffed and looked away frustrated. Clearly we were getting nowhere with this conversation. I looked at him and for a moment we shared a glance. Hans didn't ask me. He didn't mutter a single word, but he really wanted a good book right now, without sneaking it into his waistcoat, especially after this little discussion. Then I made up my mind, though I knew that after our ride alone and the latest events at the stables, Anna was not going to approve, but whatever. I motioned him to follow me, Hans obliged, but he still had a hint of a cute pout on his face. He followed me into the philosophy section. I remember he had once told me that back in the Isles he didn't get to read most of the philosophers of the Ancient Culture, mostly those from the East, though he didn't tell me why as we shifted to another topic. As we got to the end of the corridor, I scanned the shelf until I found what I was looking for, took it and when I turned around I took a step forwards and bumped into Hans's chest and he instinctively gripped on my arm to prevent me from falling, if I was to, but didn't.

"Sorry, your Majesty. I should have kept my distance" he apologized immediately.

"No, it's fine. _I'm_ sorry. I keep bumping into you" I apologized. Awkward silence, then Hans noticed his hand was still on my arm and clearing our throats, we took a step away from each other and he let go of my arm.

"Anyway… you might like this one, it contains: _Charmides, Hippias Major_ , and _Laches_ along with Plato's biography. Apart from the biography it is in its original language" I said giving him the thick book in my hands. He curiously took it and read the title, or at least he tried to.

"Thank you, Queen Elsa, but I can't read this. The Ancient Languages are not something they teach in the Southern Isles. Those philosophers I read where translated" he confessed.

"You'll be able to read this one" I said taking the book and opening it to a random page "That is, if you understand my handwriting. Anna says I've got the _'wedding invitation calligraphy'_ , and _that_ is tiny as well" and handed him the book back seeing him play a small smile on his face. Hans took it and looked at me with what seemed like an impressed look.

"Wait- You translated this?" he said as the information sunk while he read my translation between the lines of the text.

"Well, here in Arendelle we _do_ have to learn the Ancient Languages, along with Runic, and it's not like I had anything better to do when I was stuck in my room" I replied "Plus, I did it partly because of my studies and partly because I like translating these sort of things"

Then I turned around, scanned the shelves and took another book. This one contained a few of Cicero's philosophical works. "I really hope you can read _that_ handwriting" I said. Hans opened the book and gave it a look.

"If you say that this is a bad, then you clearly haven't seen my brothers' handwriting, most of them write horribly" he replied, stealing me a chuckle "Who translated this?" he asked.

"Anna" I replied proudly. His face fell into disbelief.

"With all due respect, my queen… you're joking right? It flows perfectly _and_ it's philosophy!"

"What can I say? My baby sister has her hidden talents too" I replied "In all honesty, she only did it for her studies which she didn't really enjoy. Not for the subject itself, but for the sitting still for hours; but she did say that _'she feels powerful'_ when she manages to translate correctly these texts, and she's really **_good_** at it, especially with writers from the West Ancient Culture like Cicero and Virgil she's much better than I am. Those authors that to me are hard, like Tacitus, Lucretius… Persius!... they're a piece of cake to her. I'm way better with the East authors, especially those like Plutarch, Plato, Aristoteles, who are the most hated ones to Anna"

"Which is weird, knowing Princess Anna" Hans said naturally "The West grammar is all logic, more math-like, while the East one is more of an aesthetical grammar" and I couldn't agree more.

"That's what I always say. It's weird, I know" I said.

"Well… thank you very much, Queen Elsa" Hans said suddenly becoming a little shy "I… I don't know what to say, really".

"Thank you is good enough" I replied with a small smile "Now, I'm sure you have other duties to attend to so I suggest you go put those books on that shelf of yours and head back to work"

"Yes, Milady" he replied "Thank you again, and, by the way, you _should_ call your ice palace 'a work of art'. It's unique" he said sincerely. I smiled.

"Thank you, Hans" I said with a small bow of the head and with that he bowed and walked away towards one of the exits, unable to hide the excited grin he had plastered on his face. I have to say, Hans is the first man I ever saw getting so excited about books, especially with something about philosophy. Sometimes, when I was in the gardens with Storm, we would spend some time reading as well, but unlike with Hans and I, Storm had a problem: he couldn't sit still for longer than an hour. Already after half an hour, he started moving on his seat, he had the urge to stand up and walk and I couldn't help myself but notice how Skylynn had that same problem, though being queen, she managed to stay still a little longer. The only times when Storm and I managed to stay sitting down on a bench in the gardens for more than an hour was when he borrowed a lute from the music room to play it for me. He was really good at it and I truly enjoyed it. Sometimes, if I mustered up enough courage, if I knew the tune I would quietly hum along a few words or a few notes that went along with the music.  
Anyway, I was about to make my way out of the library, but I heard some footsteps jog up to me, before hearing Hans's voice once more. I turned around and there was Hans with his books in a hand and another one in the other, handing it to me.

"If I recall correctly you said you weren't that much into historical plays, even the Shakespearian ones" he started "But, I'm sure you'll enjoy this one, my Queen"

" _Coriolanus_ " I read, taking the book "It's true, I haven't read this one"

"Trust me, you'll love it and I'm sure your favorite character will be Volumnia" he added.

"Thank you for the suggestion" I said "I'll read it when I have time" I replied. Hans smiled genuinely at my response and was about to say something else when we heard a throat clearing. We both turned around and saw Anna with her arms crossed glaring at Hans.

"Anna" I greeted smiling "Are you looking for Kristoff?"

"No, I wanted to speak with you for a moment" she said. Silence, but her glare was clear.

"Hans-"

"Thank you again, my queen, I'll go back to my duties, now" he said at the same moment as I was about to speak.

"Yes, you do that" I said.

"Queen Elsa, Princess Anna" he bowed and left. As soon as the door closed, Anna threw her hands in the air in astonishment.

"What was all that about?" she demanded, her voice going half an octave higher.

"What?" I asked

"Elsa, don't play dumb. This book thing with you and Hans!" she said with her brows slightly furrowed.

"Uhm... I lent him a couple of books, I don't see a problem in that" I replied calmly. I knew this was going to happen. I lent him a book, so?

"And that one you're holding? _Coriolanus_. It's historical. You're not into historical genre, even if it is Shakespeare" Anna said.

"Hans suggested it" I replied "He said it is a good read"

"Since when do you listen to Hans's suggestions?!" Anna said like I had just thrown an insult at her.

"Anna, is there something you want to tell me?" I patiently cut short. Anna let out an exasperated huff.

"Elsa, be careful around him" she said with worry in her voice "I mean it. Especially be careful to what he says, believe me, I know he can be very persuasive, not to mention charming"

"If that's what's worrying you then know I'm well prepared: Skylynn is sneakier" I said.

"Elsa, I'm serious!" she said a little irritated.

"Anna, don't worry. I can handle my powers and the ex-ministers, I'm sure I can handle Hans as well" I replied

"How do you know that?"

"I'm not the one who wanted to marry a men she just met" I replied with a smirk. Anna glared at me suppressing a frustrated growl.

"You're never going to let that go, are you?" she muttered. I tried hard not to laugh at my sister's adorable grumpy pout.

"Uhm… no"

"But it's precisely the reason why _I'm_ the one telling you to be careful!"

"Well, it's precisely the reason why you're _disqualified_ in doing so!" I replied. Anna huffed but then spoke seriously once again.

"Elsa, I'm just worried about you. He usually works here and I know you do too when you need to look up stuff. Who knows what goes on in his mind? For all we know he could only be trying to get on your good side to be let off the hook earlier" she said seriously. I just inhaled deeply, looking at my feet for a second.

"I considered it" I said "But I also considered that he might actually be trying to redeem himself through hard work, which is exactly the purpose of the punishment" I added. My sister didn't look convinced though. I smiled reassuringly at her and gently caressed her cheek, so that she would look back at me "It's just a book, Anna" Silence, but Anna didn't look too happy about this "Was there anything else you wanted to tell me?" I asked trying to change subject.

"Yes, it's about the wedding" she said a little less grumpily "Can you come with me and Kristoff to see the wedding planner, tomorrow? We might be needing some help" she asked "And good taste" she added "Having been raised by trolls Kristoff's tastes might not exactly match the occasion and on these matters he seems to listen more to you than to me" I laughed lightly and so did Anna, who had long resigned to the fact that her soon-to-be-husband identified royal etiquette with me rather than her.

"Sure, no problem" I replied "What time?"

"9:30 a.m."

"Alright, but I have a council meeting right after lunch, it's an update meeting regarding foreign politics and I'd like you to be there… like every other meeting…" I told her, nonchalantly adding the last part and ending it clearing my throat. Her face and arms fell.

"Do I _really_ have to?" she said helpless.

"Last time I checked, you're the Crown Princess for now, so: _yes_ , you **_really_** have to" I said eyeing her. Anna didn't have to attend all the meetings, on a scale from 1 to 10, the necessity of her presence would be a 2. In reunions like this one, though, even if her presence was not required, I had her come, which nowadays has become a routine, and it will be until she decides to come herself and _be_ the Crown Princess.

"Okay, fine…" she mumbled with the same enthusiasm of who's just been sued. Then she looked behind me towards the clock on the wall and her eyes widen in shock as she slapped a hand on her forehead "Oh crap! Class with Mrs. Hyles! I completely forgot about it! She's going to kill me!- Well- no- she's not going to kill me- but- metaphorically- I mean-"

"Anna!" I called unable to help an amused smile.

"Right! Class! I have to go!" she said and kissed my cheek "Bye!" and with that she hurdled out of the library with her shoes making a loud peel out as she hastily turned the corner, hanging on the doorframe not to fall, and with that she was out of sight. I just lightly shook my head smiling at myself. If there was one person here who should never change, that person is Anna.

* * *

 **So? How was this chapter? Good? Bad? Boring? Maybe it was a bit boring, but -hey- Helsa takes small steps! How do you like Hans being into philosophy and Elsa enjoying translating the ancient texts? Their bickering might be a little childish, but that's okay, they're young, they can afford to be a little childish at times. What do you think of Anna in this chapter? Do you think she's sensing something fishy going on between them?  
**

 **Let me know with your reviews and I apologize again to those two people who gave me positive reviews and I accidentaly deleted :-(**

 **I'll see you on the next chapter, but** **I warn you: NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE A SKYLYNN CHAPTER, BUT IT IS _VERY_ IMPORTANT. It's the meeting with the ambassador of Weselton so _DON'T_ skip it.  
**

 **Until next chapter! :-)**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	23. Meeting the Ambassador

**Transaltion to all the Drakorian words and sentences:**

 *** _Freedom_**

 ** _**_** ** _Queen Skylynn, we must be diplomatic!_**

 ** _***_** ** _Soldiers, circle them_**

 ** _Don't ask me what languages I mixed up because I don't remember. Something like Greek, Galician, German, Dutch... I don't remember exactly._**

* * *

 **Skylynn's POV:**

After the trial, I immediately headed to my study to write Elsa and Hans back and tell them the news. I made it just in time to send the snow falcon back to Arendelle when Storm came into my study. He just got in and closed the door, there was a second of silence ruled by Storm's cheerful smile, I smiled back and walking up to one another, we pulled each other in a tight hug as a huge weight was lifted upon both of our shoulders and a sword away from his neck. When we pulled out of the hug, Storm placed his hands on my shoulders.

"I knew you could do it" he said.

"You give me too much credit" I replied "Most of it goes to Angel and the letters"

"And you don't give yourself enough" he added with a smirk. I shook my head and not bothered to reply, otherwise we would have gone on for days. Storm let out a relieved sigh and looked around, taking in the sights of my study, like it were the first time. "I can't believe it… I'm home" he said, then he looked back at me, with his blue eyes gleaming as an idea popped to his mind. "I noticed a few things changed here since I left… would you mind accompanying me around the city for a tour? As soon as you're done with your queenly duties, that is" he suggested. I smiled and gave him a small nod of the head.

"Sure, as soon as I'm done with the Weselton ambassador I'll meet you at the stables" I replied, but Storm's happy face morphed.

"Wait- Weselton? I think I missed something here" he said with his brows slightly furrowed.

"Well, you were in the dungeons for a few days" I added, pointing out the obvious.

"You woke me up at sunrise because you were worried about the trial, you could have told me about Weselton while you were at it! Why didn't you tell me?" I raised an eyebrow. That was the only reply he was going to get for that question. Storm was smart enough to remember the obvious answer "Right. Possible traitor, trial in a few hours, risky" he muttered mostly to himself. Storm took a deep breath and looked back to me "What do the Wessels want now?" he said irritated, and he had every right to be.

"I don't know yet, but I'm afraid it isn't about trade this time" I replied grimly.

"Can I assist the meeting?" he asked "I'm a fully entitled Drakorian citizen now, I am your army's Commandant again, which I remind you is the first degree below yours, being General; first mate of the _Rydboda *****_. Let me assist the meeting, Sky, please?" he asked.

"Another good reason?" I asked.

"The fact that I don't trust them after their betrayal (which the only real treason crime that happened in Drakora) by allying with the false king?"

"Being your trial today, I need a little bit more than that" I said

"Before heading to Arendelle, Theodore once sent me and a few soldiers as the Southern Islander ambassador personal bodyguards to Weselton. He wanted to establish a trading alliance with them. When we got there though, we encountered Meintank's ambassadors on their way back to the ship. The Duke said they were now trading partners, but that the Southern Isles' goods were still very well accepted" I was about to open my mouth to ask him to cut short, but he beat me to it "The fact that Weselton can't be trusted is nothing new and here comes what worries me. According to my spies in the Southern Isles, no Meintank trading ship ever got to Weselton, after that" Okay… that got me. In that moment, there was a knock on the door. I was half sure it was Angel or Argos, but when I told the person to come in, the only sight of Albert made my blood boil.

" _Go to the throne room, Commandant, I'll meet you there, and inform Princess Angel and Prince Argos of what you just told me_ " I told him in Drakorian " _And Commandant_ " I called and Storm stopped to look back at me " _In the throne room, your lips need to be sealed, am I clear?_ "

" _Yes, my Queen_ " he replied and with a fist on his heart and a bow he brushed past the former king and walked out of the room. A heavy silence ruled between us. When I glanced at him, in his regal suite, I saw the many resemblances between my brothers and I. He was as tall as Theodore and I remember that years ago, when I was a kid he used to be as burly as him as well, now he was leaner; something more suitable for a man his age. His neatly combed auburn hair had now a few strands of white, like his beard. His green eyes, were the color most of my brothers took after, but each one had a different look and his was weary and tired.

"Hello, Skylynn" Albert started "I was hoping I could speak with you?"

"It's _Queen_ Skylynn to you, Prince Albert" I said turning back to look at him, crossing my arms and controlling my temper "I'll be very straightforward, the only thing I thank you for is helping an innocent man be reintegrated in his home, but other than that I don't owe you a thing and neither does my Commandant. Lastly, in case my sister-in-law hasn't been clear enough: your presence is here is not welcomed and no longer required, so I highly recommend you to head back to your ship within tomorrow morning max, or I'll have you escorted there with the same kindness you kicked my mother and I out on the street" when I said that he looked away, having the decency not to look at me "And to reply to your question: no, you may not. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a kingdom to run" and with that I was about to walk past him, but he moved in front of me.

"Get out… of my way…" I said threateningly, looking straight at him in the eyes.

"No, _Queen_ Skylynn" he replied "I'm 62 and I came all the way here from the Southern Isles-"

"-And for all I care, you could have _stayed_ in the Southern Isles and just send me the letters"

"Listen, kid! I didn't travel all this way here myself only to be treated like this" he replied seriously, losing his temper as well.

"First of all, you don't get to 'kid' me, you lost your right to it, and second, I'll have you know that I treated you with velvet gloves. You deserve much worse for what you did to Hans and I. So don't you dare come to me and tell me how I should treat you, because, I assure you, you _really_ don't want to see my dark side, Prince Albert"

"Skylynn, I just want to talk" he said almost pleadingly.

"Well, I don't want to talk! I have nothing to say to you, except that if you don't get out of my way right now: I'm going to make you" I barked.

"Skylynn, please, I'm your father-" at that I snapped.

"YOU ARE NOT MY FATHER!" I yelled at him "You have never been that and you lost your chance to try to be one when you kicked Milah Engel out on the streets telling her to take that _thing_ with her!" I rubbed in his face.

"Skylynn, I'm sorry-"

"You are not sorry, you are _ridiculous_! You were a _king_ , Albert! A _king_! You could handle running and leading a country but you can't handle your kids?"

"Skylynn, listen, I know that I screwed up things with you -badly- I did with… most of my children, but… I didn't have a choice!" he replied

"You always have a choice, but you preferred to see only the easy way out" I snapped.

"Skylynn-"

"-And don't try to feed me more of that _'what was the alternative'_ bullshit!" I interrupted "Let's leave Hans and the rest of my brothers out of the picture for a moment. You were the King, for Christ's sake! Why couldn't you man up and tell your wife and your council to get a grip? You had to abdicate? Fine. But the least you could have done was taking care of your fourteenth child and possibly of the others as well. You didn't have a country to run anymore, so what stopped you from getting hold of your responsibilities and be a father to all of us? Sure, things were going to be different with me, but at least you could have been there" I said.

"Skylynn" he started calmly "The Southern Isles-"

"-are very conservative, I know, but guess what? In many aspects so is Drakora and in some ways, so is Arendelle. But my husband and I started to bring change, I am continuing what we started and Queen Elsa is doing the same in Arendelle. It's scary, it's risky, and it takes is a little courage to do it… but I learned that _courage_ is something that lacks among the Westerguards…"

"You may deny it all you want, but you are my daughter. You too were born a Westerguard" he said.

"But I grew up an _Engel_ " I replied with a hard stare "… not to mention I had the Westerguard's black sheep for a mentor"

"Yes, and look how well Hans turned out" he said with bitter sarcasm

"Yes, he lost his way, and who is to blame for that? Certainly not just our brothers, that I can assure you" I snapped and Albert immediately regretted what he had just said about Hans. A small, heavy, cold silence ruled between us "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to attend" I replied and pushed my way past him and out of my study.

"I overheard Prince Argos telling his wife something about meeting the Weselton ambassador. While General Ryder was in Arendelle they came more than once to the Southern Isles. Theodore didn't give me the details… but whatever they proposed, he refused" he said, before I could leave "Be careful, they are not to be trusted"

"Like the Westerguard royal family" I replied not even looking back at him "Have a nice voyage back to the Isles, Prince Albert" and with that I made my way to the throne room. The nerve of that man! His presence here was needed just to help Storm, not to pay me a visit! Worse, is the fact that after ignoring and mistreating me for my whole life, he suddenly shows up and thinks he has some kind of paternal right over me. Children are of those who raise them, I am only my mother's daughter and that's it!  
I decided to take the long way to the throne room, as I needed a moment to let off some steam. I have been angry before, that I am short fused is nothing new, but while my brothers irritate me, Albert is the only one who makes my blood boil just by being in the same room. Now I needed to concentrate and get that waste of my time out of my head for a moment. This was big and I had to be careful with what I said, especially after what Storm told me. Only positive thing about this little meeting had been him giving me a lead on Weselton's intentions… certainly in hope of me asking for his assistance, or something like that.  
The moment I got to the throne room, Angel was standing to the throne's right while Storm was standing on the left I joined them standing in the middle in front of the throne. Storm and I shared a glance, and I immediately received his silent question regarding my encounter with Albert: _How did it go?_  
When I abruptly moved my gaze away, my eyebrows narrowing a bit, he understood the answer: _Not good._  
In that moment, the doors opened and Prince Argos walked in, followed by the Wessel ambassador and his security body. The ambassador was as tall as me, lean, in his late 40s, with short salt-and-pepper hair, he wore the Wessel Embassy uniform, which consisted of a black suite with a red sash on his waist, a cravat and black boots, and being an ambassador he had no weapons with him, unlike his bodyguards. I glanced at Angel and resulting in her silently motioning the guards to close around behind the men, in case they tried anything funny.

"My Queen" Argos started, in his thick Drakorian accent "I present you Lord Anton Garroway, ambassador of the Dukedom of Weselton"

"Lord Garroway" I greeted, as Argos stepped next to his wife.

"Queen Skylynn I of Drakora" he greeted with a deep bow "It is with pleasure that I see that the rumors are true: both you and your kingdom are breathtaking"

"With all due respect, sir, sweet words and flattery won't take you anywhere in Drakora, as they are unrequired and out of place in political matters such as this" I replied. The man seemed to be slightly taken aback and a little irritated at my response, but nevertheless, he kept his composure.

"It won't change my opinion, but I apologize if my words have been taken as an offence to your custom, it wasn't my intention" he replied.

"No apology is needed, you didn't know" I replied, he bowed his head and was about to speak, but I preceded him "But before you say anything else, Wessel, I'll have you know that in Drakora, everyone, even a king's messenger- whether he is a commoner, nobleman, even an heir to the throne himself- is held accountable for the words he speaks" I warned seriously "With that being said: what is your Duke's message?"

"He has a proposal" the man replied. Silence.

"A proposal…" I replied as he probably expected me to let go of my stoic expression "I need a little more information than that before coming to an agreement" The man seemed to hesitate, probably thinking of how not to make his next words sound offensive and make them more persuasive.

"Don't be coy or arrogant, Lord Garroway" Angel intervened as her green eyes were set hard on the ambassador "Considering who we are and our recent past history, you Wessels can't afford neither in Drakora"

"Pardon me, Princess Angel, but when was the last time you led the Drakorians?" he replied indignantly with a smug look.

"The kingdom certainly did not prosper and rule itself in the absence of our queen these last three months, hasn't it?" Angel proudly replied.

"Lord Garroway, remember what our queen warned you about. Especially when speaking to my wife the Crown Princess, Royal Advisor of the Drakorian Crown" Argos interrupted with a glare. His smug look was wiped away. He had _so_ taken for granted that Argos had been my regent! Not to mention that he too had been fooled by Angel's appearance. To a stranger she inspired kindness, innocence, sweetness, with her smooth tanned skin, gentle green eyes, blonde hair in a regal bun, elegant dress; the kind of woman that would stay behind and have her man protect her and fall in his arms like a damsel in distress… no. _That_ is not Angel. She is one of the toughest women I've ever met. She is a diplomat and a decent fighter when you give her the right weapon. She is silent, observant and speaks at the right time with the right words for the right outcome, and now she did exactly what was needed: put the ambassador in difficulty.  
The Wessel wanted to reply probably with some snarky comment, or remark, but knew better and kept his mouth shut. No apology followed and he was getting irritated, I could see it in his eyes. Good. He was not going to be so subtle after all. This is what happens when you underestimate your opponent and think that a little flattery can get her walls down when said opponent is a woman. I also have to remind myself to compliment Argos later. Considering how relaxed and calm he and his men were when he got here, he did a pretty good job to make our guests get comfy.

"Queen Skylynn" the Garroway started turning to me "The Duke is well aware of the past events, but you also have to understand that he too, has a country to run and considering the situation here, he needed to give stability to his people" he added eyeing Angel.

"With your commercial alliances with most of the kingdoms of the Fjordlands, I don't see that much of instability by losing us, but please, go on, Lord Garroway" I said.

"You are, though, well known to be the strongest warriors of the Fjordlands… and your reputation, Queen Skylynn, quite precedes you" he said "Our proposal is different this time. After the infamous Eternal Winter, the Duke understood that the Snow Queen is a threat to all of us, you included, though you are allies. She could destroy us all, one by one, but not if we unite against her. She may look sweet and gentle on the outside, but looks can be deceiving, she is a monster and she needs to be destroyed, like all monsters do" he paused, but that was already enough "Once the Snow Queen and her sister are out of the game-"

"-Pardon me, Ambassador" I stopped him "I thought your Duke's goal was to put Queen Elsa out of the picture for the safety of the Fjordlands. Princess Anna has no magic nor the ruling expertise or preparation the Duke or Princess Angel may have. Why does she need to be eliminated? She's not a threat"

"Queen Skylynn, you don't really believe that Princess Anna will let the execution of her monster sister go by as if it never happened! The moment she gets the throne, there will be war. She will try to avenge her" the ambassador said as if it were the most obvious thing "Once we take care of them both Arendelle will have a new leader and you as well as the rest of your kingdom, will benefit from it: trading and protection" Silence.

"Protection?" I said raising an eyebrow "I'm not sure of the way you see it, but in the context you're putting it in, this 'protection' sounds like a synonym of 'submission'"

"If you value your lives over your complete annihilation, listen carefully. Weselton will soon be more than ready for battle, the Duke has collected thousands of men under his command, all for the benefit of the Fjordlands. All the Duke asks after the war, is a small monetary tribute to the most powerful country in the territory, in exchange of his protection and his trading partnership" I took a few steps away thinking over his words for a moment. There was only one reason why Drakora would need protection after Arendelle was defeated: Meintank. That's why Storm's spies never saw a trading ship in Wessel waters, Meintank, Drakora and Arendelle's neighbor, was Weselton's military ally… and this might have also been what the Duke asked Theodore. If I accepted I betrayed Elsa and my country, other than condemning them, if I refused it was war.

"Queen Skylynn" the man continued, making me stop dead in my tracks "It is known that in this last period, you had to spend some time in Arendelle, I am sure you got to know the Snow Queen. You know her strengths and her weaknesses, along with those of her kingdom. You and your Commandant could do the job yourselves and spare hundreds of innocent lives, the Duke and the other kingdoms will forever be grateful to you, and your name shall forever be remembered as Queen Skylynn: Heroine of the _Fjordlands_ " he added. Apparently the part of flattery not working with me did not catch his mind.

"Queen Elsa's head… in exchange of submission" I stated "Unfortunately both things are a little bit of a problem for me" I replied looking back at him and slowly walking to him "You see… other than forging an alliance, during my stay in Arendelle I got to develop a good friendship with this… _threatening_ and _dangerous_ Snow Queen. Family, friendship, honesty and courage are the most important values of my kingdom, by betraying Queen Elsa and Princess Anna I'd not go just against my own personal principles, but also my people's as well" I paused "As for the submission part, a little bird informed me that… the _Southern Islanders_ have already turned you down" I started "And if that big baby king with his coward brothers, along with their subjects, those… pietistic and bigoted conservatives have found that kind of nerve then-"

"-Rahissa Skalin, wir müpei sermaste taidhlikòs! ****** " Argos interrupted placing a hand on my arm ** _._**

"-And, of course, _Drakorians…_ " I marked raising my voice and a steel gaze towards Argos, who backed away lowering his eyes "…have a reputation to keep and, as I already said: a code to follow" I said. The man kept his composure and made his mistake.

"Choose your next words carefully, Skylynn I of Drakora" he said "They might be your last… as queen" I remained silent for a moment, turning my back to him. I had my mind made up already, but I had two choices: either send them off as diplomats or do it as angry Drakorians. I glanced at Argos, who's expression had changed completely. One moment he was begging me to be diplomatic and now, after the man's last 'statement', the look in his blue eyes clearly said he was ready to put his sword at use. I glanced at Storm. His eyes met mine and his hand slowly went in a resting position on his sword hilt. The message was clear: _Whatever you choose, I'm with you._ Lastly I glanced at Angel, who's expression was impassive. Our eyes met and I gave her a very small nod, as my hand slowly went to my sword, she slowly nodded in agreement. I slowly turned around and gave my command.

"Stratdes, sirklous ******* "I commanded. In an instant, my men pointed their weapons at the back of the Wessels' necks. The men looked around in shock as he heard the noise and saw his men paralyzed as they knew better than to move. He turned back around alarmed, only to have his face grow white as he found my sword pointing at his throat and Argos and Storm with their weapons drawn as well.

"What the hell?!You're a crazy woman!" Lord Garroway shouted

"I warned you about being held accountable of your words" I said

"You have no right to do this!" he said with my sword pointed at his throat.

"Oh, don't I?" I replied sarcastically, but glared hard at him a moment later "Your Duke betrayed my country in the moment of need, you disrespect Drakora's Crown Princess, you show no regard towards our ties with Arendelle, you threaten my people with slavery and death! Oh, I've chosen my words carefully, Wessel… perhaps you should have done the same" I said "Stratdes, desplizous" I commanded my men and they immediately obeyed _(Soldiers, disarm them)_

" _Your_ people?! You've got a crown on your head only because you married their rightful king!" Lord Garroway said indignantly "Your queen is a _Southern Islander_! The illegitimate brat of their former king! You Drakorian men take orders and are ruled by a _bastard Southern Islander woman_!" he shouted. I rolled my eyes. This was getting old…

"Yes, Lord Garroway, you're right. I am a Southern Islander. I was born out of wed-lock from a Southern Islander mother and a Southern Islander father, and Southern Islander blood runs through my veins… but my _heart_ … is Drakorian" I said giving him a cold stare. He looked at me terrified as on the last line, I pressed the tip of my sword on his neck, before speaking in Drakorian to my warriors " _Men, bring these gentlemen back to their ship, Commandant Ryder, Prince Argos make sure they leave our kingdom"_ and with that said, I lowered my sword, grabbed the man by his cravat and pushed him back to his long disarmed soldiers, but being his men dragged away, he fell on his butt rather than being caught. Then Storm and Argos grabbed him by the arms and dragged him away.

"What?!- Wait?!- What are you doing?! Get your hands off me! You can't do this!" he yelled.

"Calm down! They're just accompanying you to your ship" I said putting my sword away "Oh, and if I wasn't clear enough: my answer is no" and with that, the Wessels were out of the throne room. Even though his scared face and him being dragged out of the room was quite funny, what he had just told me alarmed me. I turned towards Angel who took the words right out of my mouth.

" _You have to warn Queen Elsa_ " she said in her native language.

" _Yes, but I can't leave now. You heard the Wessel, we need to prepare our men as well. I have to think about my people first_ " I said " _I'll write Elsa and warn her that something happened, but I can't give her the details in a letter. If anything happens I can't let these information fall into the wrong hands, I need to tell her in person_ " I responded in Drakorian.

" _I suggest you return with some of our ships_ " she asked " _You heard him. I know Wessels overdo everything they say, but what if apart from Meintank they have other allies?_ " she said.

" _I don't think so. The important kingdoms are Corona, which is allied with Arendelle, Drakora, Meintank, the Southern Isles and Weselton. The Southern Isles refused their proposal, we just did the same and Corona will help Arendelle as we will. Weselton and Meintank together are still nothing compared to the three of our kingdoms. They're not going to risk as much_ "

" _What about Shergan_?" Angel asked " _We signed a peace treaty, but right now they are in need and so are we in order to reconstruct the destroyed city, we can't help them although they asked us many times_ "

" _Shergan, as you said, is in an economic crisis and a war is probably the last thing they want_ " I replied.

" _What if Weselton offers them the economic support they need? Shergan will be a problem. We will have two fronts to fight on_ " Angel said.

" _King Gunther knows not to trust Weselton, he knows there's always a catch. If he's smart he's not going to accept_ " I said.

" _It doesn't matter if he's smart or not. What matters is that by the time Weselton moves battle to Arendelle he's not_ _ **desperate**_ " I sighed. Angel had made a valid point.

" _That is true… and we can't do anything about it…_ " then I got an idea " _Unless we anticipate Meintank and attack first. Once we've won, during the peace treaties we'll let them keep their independence, but our conditions will have to highly damage their economy_ "

" _That will only make Meintank our enemy and the moment it will get back on its feet we're going to have another war_ " Angel disagreed.

" _Angel, they're allied to Weselton who wants to declare war to Arendelle, our ally. Not to mention all the 'frontier accidents' we had before we allied with Arendelle, their king_ _ **wanted**_ _a war with us we were politically isolated. We already are enemies. If we give a critical hit on their economy, we'll weaken them for a good while and Weselton won't be able to declare war to anyone_ " Angel processed my words for a moment.

" _It could work…"_

 _"_ _But?"_

 _"_ _But Lord Garroway was far too confident about this. For all we know, this could be precisely their plan: keep us occupied with Meintank while Weselton destroys Arendelle with his allies. You can't stay here until this is over, Arendelle needs you. Both you and Storm need to help Queen Elsa. She just became queen and Arendelle hasn't been into war for a couple of centuries, you are needed there_ " Then I caught it. That glimpse in Angel's eyes that meant she had come up with something, but not just any idea.

" _We just came up with the same plan_ " I stated and she voiced our plan.

" _Shortly, sailing will be impossible around Arendelle due to the hailstorms as storm season is coming. That means this war will have to wait at least until late winter or early spring. Ask Queen Elsa to prologue your stay here for at least another week"_

 _"_ _I will. You and Argos take care of preparing the men as soon as I'm done with the Council of Arms, while Storm and I head back to Arendelle and help Elsa prepare her soldiers and get ready for battle"_

 _"_ _I'll send you the rest of the troops as soon as the seas can be sailed again_ " she concluded.

" _Perfect, which makes me think that considering our various incognita, it's probably best if I take a few ships back with me"_ I concluded, earning an appreciating nod from Angel.

In any other situation, the best plan would have been for me to stay in Drakora and take matters from here, but this time it wasn't just our ally needing help. My best friend needed me. She was about to face something huge in a field in which she had no experience. Sure, Elsa had her generals, but times change and war tactics change. I don't need to say that her youngest general is around 45 years of age. When Lord Garroway came here, he said that the goal was to kill Elsa as she was the 'dangerous monster', but it didn't take a genius to realize that the real target was not Elsa, but the kingdom. Even if Elsa had ice powers what made matters worse was that she couldn't use her powers in this case. Or rather, she _could_. She was powerful, but if she did, she _would_ become the threat. If the Duke had managed to convince people that Elsa was a monster, the moment she used her powers to defeat Arendelle's enemies, she was going to become the threat.  
We all knew how Weselton was like, if Arendelle fell under its grasp, the balance of the Fjordlands was going to fall.

* * *

 **And there you have it! And I suppose you all realized, this scene was _very_ inspired by 300 ;-) **

**So, Weselton wants to declare war to Arendelle and Elsa will now have to face her worst nightmare: war.  
Will she be ready? Will she finally be the real leader everyone sees in her? What do you think will be the Duke's ace up his sleeve? Next chapter will be another HELSA MOMENT!  
Tell me what you think of the chapter. Thank you for your reviews and for reading the story!  
See you on the next chapter! ;-)  
Warm Hugs to everyone!  
**

 **The Princess of Stars**

 **P.S.  
If this story "accidentally" got to 114 reviews, I "might" put the next chapter this Sunday ;-)**


	24. Asking Hans a Favor

**Elsa's POV:**

I had just finished reading Sir Samuel's report from Drakora. The report was fine, but there was one thing that worried me though, which was Sir Samuel's serious tone in the line that said that, although things were fine, he begged me not to fret when I got to the part regarding the meeting between Skylynn and an ambassador from Weselton, in the Drakorian Queen's letter. I did not like the sound of that, still. Sky's letter hadn't arrived yet.

Weirdly enough, my schedule today wasn't as full as I thought it was. Someone could say that it would have been a good idea to go out with my sister for a ride or making the ballroom a winter wonderland and have a snowball fight or something like that. The idea was very tempting, unfortunately, I also had some stuff to do which I could decide to delay and take the day off, or get some work done ahead. If the perks of being queen were doing whatever you wanted, what proved them to be actually not true were all the paperwork and meetings I had to attend to. Queen duty sucks sometimes. In summary: I decided to work rather than relax. For an few hours or so, I just stayed in my study, reading new law suggestions, reports, messages from other kingdoms, and all those queen stuff I had to do. Unfortunately I was rudely interrupted the moment Anna barged through the door and stalked right in front of my desk, leaning with her arms on it.

"You've forgotten how to knock, have you?" I said barely glancing up at her.

"You have 30 seconds to finish that paper, then you'll listen to me" she said bossily. I stopped reading the document and arched an eyebrow at her suspiciously "Hop! Hop! Hop!" Anna exclaimed clapping her hands "30 seconds! 29…28…27…" the one reason why I immediately went back to reading was because I just wanted to hear what my sister wanted now. "4…3…2…1…Time's up!" she said and I signed the paper and put it away.

"There. Done. What is it?" I asked, half amused.

"Sis, you need to get out! You work too much" she replied, then walked beside me and took my hands "Come on! Let's go out, it's a nice day! Why don't we go for a ride with Kristoff, Olaf and Sven?"

"Anna, I have work to get ahead of" I replied reluctantly.

"Elsa, your face says it all on how eager you are to do this stuff" Anna giving my hands a pull "You've got the same enthusiasm of a deer during hunting season"

"How are your lessons with Mrs. Hyles going?" I asked to change subject, miserably failing.

"Come on Elsa! Just because your Prince Charming boyfriend isn't here doesn't mean you have to stay cooped up in your study" Anna said.

"Storm is not my boyfriend!" I said blushing.

"He's your only _suitor_ , Elsa. That's basically your boyfriend. You two have been courting for almost two months now! That's basically dating! I don't believe you two haven't even kissed at least once" Silence and I shyly sunk my head in my shoulders, awkwardly clearing my throat looking away. Anna gaped at me dropping my hands "No. No way… you're joking" I didn't answer "Come on! Elsa, you're not serious! Not even _one_ kiss?!"

"I have never even danced with him" I shyly admitted.

"Oh, my goodness! And _I'm_ the one who needs dating advice…"she said exasperatedly.

"I don't want to rush things, like _someone_ " I replied, crossing my arms.

"It happened only once!" she replied

"You agreed to marry Kristoff after a month of knowing him" I replied.

"Yeah, well, but thanks to _someone_ I'll have to wait at least until March to do so" I looked up at her surprised but Anna cut me off "Yes, I know about the deal you made with Kristoff. Don't get mad at him, I forced him to spill since he kept insisting on those seven months from our engagement. Anyway, it's not me we're talking about. Elsa, one thing is taking things slow, which is fine, the other is being a complete stockfish!"

"I'm not a stockfish!" I replied getting defensive "And Storm and I _do_ stuff together, thank you very much"

"Yeah, I know: walks together, reading together, listening to him play the lute, but I'm talking about the small romantic stuff. Like, you know, the arm around the shoulder, holding hands, cuddling on the sofa while reading in front of the fireplace…" she suggested leaving the sentence hanging open. Telling her that the one time, Storm tried to hold my hand I rejected him due to my ice powers was not going to help, so I decided to stick with the monosyllabic answer.

"No…" I replied. Anna covered her face with her hands in disbelief "Well, he's still here, though. He's respectful and a gentleman"

"I'm not even going to comment on that…" she replied "Yes, he is a gentleman and is very respectful, but –Jeez- Elsa, after two months like this Storm is either super-patient, after your crown- unlikely-, or he's madly in love with you -which I really hope- and is waiting for you to melt a little" I sighed. Now that I come to think of it, Storm has indeed been very patient and never tried to do any of the things Anna said since I told him I wasn't really comfortable with it because of my powers. The only thing he did sometimes was using the excuse of putting the strand of hair in front of my face to caress my cheek when he pulled away his hand. He might have been patient and respectful, but I haven't been giving him many signals saying that I was interested in him as well. In her small rant, Anna had silently made a very good point: Storm was not going to wait forever. I had to stop holding myself back so much.

"What should I do for him?" I asked her.

"Thank goodness! You caught up to that!" she said relieved.

"Anna, I'm serious. Help me" I replied.

"I don't know, you know him better than I do. Think of the things he likes, something will eventually come up to you and… sis, try to let yourself go a little. Less queen, more Elsa" Anna said giving me a small smile.

"Okay, I'll try" I said

"Well… I guess you've got some thinking to do, then. So… I'll go for a ride with Kristoff, Olaf and Sven, if joining us, makes your thinking better, you are very welcome"

"I'll only end up getting distracted and not think about this. Next time, I promise" I said. Anna smiled and walked out of the study, but a second later she was back in, grabbed my hand and arm and dragged me off of the chair and out of the room.

"Do your thinking _AWAY_ from this room" she commanded.

"Since when did you get this bossy?" I said a little surprised by her behavior.

"My queen big sister must be rubbing it off on me" she replied innocently. I lightly smiled shaking my head, but planted a kiss on Anna's cheek "Thank you for the talk and have fun" Anna smiled and skipped away through the corridor.

My mind immediately went swirling with ideas on what to do for Storm. What was I even pointing at? Surprise him? Impress him? It didn't really matter, the point was that I wanted to do something nice for him. I walked around the castle away from the study, as my little sister had commanded, and thinking about what Storm would like. He played the lute, he liked dark chocolate, he was into the adventure genre… a book!... then I thought about it… no, not romantic and far too predictable. Crap! I never thought that wanting to do something nice for a guy you like could be so hard!

As I walked around the halls someone caught my attention: Gerda. Actually it wasn't Gerda herself or the fact that she was carrying a bucket full of sheets to do laundry, it was what she was doing while walking to her destination. She was happily humming a song, singing a few words here and there. As she did that and walked past me with a tiny bow in salute, Anna's words came ringing back to me, actually, it was more like her description of me in the 'romantic field': a _stockfish_. Anna had defined me a _stockfish_ , which ironically was what I was like during the events. While everyone danced, apart from Skylynn who after a couple of minutes was usually swarmed with admirers, I just stood somewhere watching them… like a _stockfish_. And at last… I saw the light and it was like fog had lifted: dancing. Anna had also said: less queen, more Elsa. If there is one thing I learned it's that love is putting another's needs before your own. Sure, dancing wasn't a _need_ to Storm, but it was something he enjoyed and even though I wasn't a real fan of it; he put up with my 'stockfishness' for a while. If I wanted this courtship to work, now it was my turn to put a little effort in it.

There was only one little problem… and I needed someone to help me. Anna was the first person who popped to my mind, but coming to think of it, she wasn't the best choice. I thought of Kristoff, but immediately wrote him off as I saw him dancing before. Skylynn could have been an option as well. I never saw her dance, but she did say she could. Unfortunately she was with Storm, so I had to write her off too. I felt color drain out of my face as I realized I only had one option left. The more I thought about it, the more I knew Anna was going to kill me if she found out.

Speaking of the devil, the moment I turned the corner, Hans came out from the end of the corridor, with a mop and a bucket, meaning that he was either going to wash the floors or he was already done and was putting it away. I had a few seconds to decide: ask him or find another way. As he neared me, I made up my mind, took a deep breath and walked to him.

"Hans" I called. He stopped where he was.

"Yes, Queen Elsa? How can I help you?" he asked bowing his head. I was in front of him and my heart pounded fast. This was an awful idea, but I kept telling myself it was for Storm.

"I… uhm…" my mouth had run dry in that moment. It wasn't _just_ the asking that terrified me, it was the asking _and_ the person I was asking to. Hans leaned his head closer, curiously. "Uh… have you washed the floors yet?" I asked. He looked at me confused for a moment. He sensed I was nervous, but he couldn't understand why.

"Uhm… yes… I was putting the mop and bucket away?" he said unsure, in fact it sounded more like a question. I looked around to make sure no one was there. The only people where the guards, who were watching Hans intently, like I had ordered them to.

"Okay, uhm..." I took a step forward "Put those back in place and then come see me in the music room, the one in the east wing on the second floor. I need to speak with you… alone" I whispered. Now Hans was confused and I didn't blame him. In his place would be too.

"Okay… yes, my Queen" he replied silently. I nodded my head and walked away to the room I told him to meet me in. Now, I'm not going to lie. I was nervous. Very nervous. I had to try to not make a fool out of myself, but gosh! Why did have to be so hard?! This is the first time I actually find myself anxious of asking someone something as little as the favor I needed from him.  
When Hans finally reached the room, I could see he was nervous as well. Needless to say, I knew he had to be sneaking around as my guards were supposed to watch him. The moment he entered the room, his first words were anticipated by my own as I told him not to worry about sneaking away from my men. I had indeed told him that I wanted to speak with him alone. That seemed to relax him a little, but his eyes were still confused.

"So… Queen Elsa, why this secret meeting?" he asked unsure. My heart started pounding… again. I could feel some frost form on my fingers, but I closed my fists and tried to repress the nervous chill.

"Yes, well… you see… uhm…" _Great start, Elsa, really! I'm impressed…_ I scolded myself. I took a deep breath and tried to form a sentence. "Hans" I started "I'm about to tell you something about me that no one else knows of" I started. To say that Hans looked confused, was an understatement. He was kind of freaked out, like if I was about to tell him something so scandalous that I couldn't even tell my own sister.

"Okay… why me?" was all he could ask.

"Because you're my only option right now" I replied "Okay… uhm so… I… I spoke with Anna earlier and she kind of knocked some sense into me about my courtship with Storm… and I realized I need to put some more effort into it too"

"I thought things with Storm were going fine" he said "Pardon my boldness, but I suppose he must have kissed you at least once" An embarrassing silence dawned between us and Hans caught on "I'll take it as a no"

"I…well... things _are_ fine, but… all the nice 'romantic gestures' mostly come from him and… well… his romantic gestures had to stop at saying nice things because… due to my powers… well… Anna defined me a 'stockfish'. That says it all" I said. Hans was face-palming as he caught on to the subtext.

"Your Majesty -with all due respect- when it comes to socialization, apart from speaking politics, is there anything you're _actually_ capable of doing?" he said and I frowned.

"Putting up with you" I deadpanned. Hans gaped at me for a moment as he lacked of a comeback. I felt a satisfied smirk appear on my lips. I won this round "Anyway, I'll just get to the point" I said not giving him the time to speak "I want to do something nice for Storm. I want to surprise him when he comes back from Drakora" I said. A small smile played on Hans's lips.

"Well… that's nice of you, but I don't understand what you need _me_ for" he said. Okay… it was time. I took a deep breath, looked around to see if we were alone, which was stupid since we _were_ , and spilled with my head sinking in my shoulders in embarrassment.

"Idntknowhutudnc…" Okay, that was not talking, that was sloppily trying to mutter something.

"I'm sorry?" Hans asked, obviously not understanding a word I said.

"Idontknowhowtodance" I repeated, not that much clearer.

"My Queen, you need to articulate, I didn't catch that" he said.

"I don't dance!" I said clearly. Hans seemed to be losing his patience.

"Yes, I was the events. I got that much" he said.

"No, Hans. I mean… I don't… _at all_ … as in: I **_can't_** " I confessed embarrassedly. Surprise was written all over his face.

"Oh…" was all he replied.

"So… uh…-argh!- why is it so hard to ask?!" I complained with myself "Can you teach me how to dance?" there, I said it "Please?" I added in a small voice. Hans looked like he wasn't sure how to act. He opened his mouth and closed it a few times, not muttering a word.

"I… only have one question" he said "Why me?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"Well… Skylynn is not here, Kristoff's good but it's clear he's no royal and Anna… well, we'd only end up fooling around" I explained "So… that only leaves you" he nodded in understanding "Hans, this is not an order. I'm asking you for a favor. If you don't want to, it's fine, I can try having Anna teach me" I reassured him. Hans looked back at me differently. His green eyes surprised for what I said. Then he smiled, like he really smiled.

"It'd be an honor my queen" he replied, with a slight bow placing a hand on his heart. The moment he said I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, in relief.

"Thank you" was all I could say smiling back.

"When do we start?" he asked.

"I'd like to start now"

"Oh… alright" Hans said but I interrupted him, before he spoke any further, explaining that he'd had to wait here for a moment, while I went to get a few things: a music box and my gloves. As I did that, I never felt sneakier. I admit that that was the only time in my life that I felt like I was Skylynn Engel-Westerguard… If she ever felt like that when sneaking around in incognito… anyway, it's stupid, but I couldn't help but feel like a spy on a top secret mission. Considering that if Anna knew that I was getting dance lessons by Hans it would have been Fjordland War II, it kind of was a top secret mission. While heading back to the music room, I met a few guards along the way. One had actually came running to me, telling me that the former prince was nowhere to be found in his areas of duty. I don't know how I did, probably thanks to Skylynn's influence, I came up with a plausible excuse in the blink of an eyes, telling them that, everything was fine and that I had given him some duties in another area of the castle and there were already other guards there. The man had sighed in relief and with a bow went back to his duties. After that, making sure no one was around, I went back to the music room. As I got back, I found Hans sitting at the piano, playing a few chords. He looked up the moment I closed the door behind me and stood up walking towards me as I placed the music box on the piano.

"A music box, perfect" he noted as he saw the red box with golden decorations. He fell silent, but I felt his eyes on me, as I put my gloves on "Your Majesty, I don't mean to preach, but considering why you're doing this, I suggest you take the gloves off" he said.

"I'd rather not" I replied shortly and turned back to him. Hans looked at me strangely, confused.

"You… I thought you were in control, now" he noted. I felt a pang of uneasiness hit me, the moment he said that.

"I am, it's just…" I started "…better safe than sorry, right?"

"Queen Elsa, if you're in control, I see no reason why you should still wear gloves"

"Yeah, well- _I_ do" I insisted a little coldly.

"Give me one good reason" he said determent "You give me one good reason to why you should wear those or you find someone else for your dance lessons" he said crossing his arms with that darn arrogant smirk.

"You did _not_ just say that to your Queen!" I said with my eyes wide.

"I gave myself this privilege since you _asked me for a favor_ and did not _order_ me" he replied. I sighed frustrated.

"You are impossible" I replied

"So I've been told" he said "So? Explanation?" I looked away unsure. Part of my head was screaming to give up and go ask Anna, but I immediately had to dismiss that thought. I could have not worn gloves with Anna, but I would have with Storm. After that, I would have not heard the end of it by both Anna _and_ Kristoff. They would have surly complained about how I should have not put the gloves on giving me thousands of reasons to why not… and Kristoff would have bugged me to no end with the fact that I was queen and did not know how to dance in the first place. Hans was my best option… unfortunately. I took another breath and looked back at him.

"Because I'm still not confident enough to touch people with my bare hands, especially in situation that... make me nervous. I just… I mainly shoot ice from my hands, I don't want to hurt anyone if I get too nervous" I sighed "That is also why I never let Storm hold my hand… partly, I'm still afraid" I confessed, looking away. Hans remained quiet for a moment. It was just a few seconds, but considering what I had just said, they were a few seconds in which I had just made myself vulnerable. I had just given him ammunition to use against me. Once again, Hans surprised me when he broke the silence.

"When you said you didn't want to hurt anyone… does that include me, too?" he said. When I looked back, I was surprised to see him not with some sort of mean mocking grin, but trying to hide a playful one. His emerald eyes not showing one glimpse of bad intentions. It took me a few seconds, but then I felt my lips twitch in a small smile.

"Yes… it does" I admitted "But only because you'll be teaching me" I added quickly.

"Aw, I'm touched! Does that mean you _care_ about me?" he said with a grin. I hid my smile, but playfully glared at him.

"Don't push it, Hans" I said and put my gloves on. Hans just smirked and raised his hands in defeat. Then we got to business, standing side by side as Hans showed me the basic steps first. For half an hour, Hans and I stood side by side, him just a little bit further in front of me showing me the steps for me to copy. When I finally got the hang of the steps, we tried it out together. I was surprised to see that instead of going in the typical waltz couple position, he had me try the steps just by holding hands one in front of the other. I was hesitant at first, but then allowed him to take my gloved hands in his as we continued with the basic steps.

Suddenly I heard rustling from the window. Hans and I turned around and saw my snow-falcon carrying the usual two letters. I excused myself for a moment and went to open the window, greeting my falcon with gentle pets on his snowy feathers… _Snowy_ … I like it! That's how I'm going to call it, from now on. Anyway, I gently retrieved the letters and let him fly around for a while before calling him back to send my reply.

"So that's the snow made peregrine falcon" Hans said seeing it for the first time.

"Snowy" I replied.

" _Snowy_ … cute" he commented as I checked the envelops.

"Black dot on envelope. This one's yours" I said handing him the paper.

"I never got the chance to thank you for, you know, the mail" Hans said taking his envelope "Why do you allow us to write to each other, anyway? For all you know we could be formulating some wicked plan to steal your throne" he asked genuinely confused.

"Are you? Was that a confession?" I said raising an eyebrow at him playfully. His eyes widen panicking.

"Wha- no! Of course not! I-"

"-Hans, I'm joking, relax" I told him. He remained unsure for a few seconds but noticed my playful smirk and calmed down responding with a relieved smile.

"So…why do you let us? Let _me_?" he asked.

"Because right now you are lonely just like I have been" I responded "You need your sister, like I needed mine" Hans went silent, his words thinking over my reply. I surprised myself at how I basically had opened up to him today.

"Thank you" was his only answer. There was a comfortable silence as we opened our envelopes to tread the letter. I heard Hans lightly chuckle as he started to read the first lines of his. With a tiny smile on my face, I went to read my best friend's letter. My smile faded as soon as she asked me to prologue her and Storm's stay in Drakora for another week, something was up. When I read the next few lines, my heart almost stopped. Skylynn didn't give me the details wisely explaining it was because she couldn't have the letter fall in the wrong hands if it got lost, but for those few pieces of information she did give me made a horrific thought crawl up to my mind.

"Queen Elsa, are you okay?" Hans asked. I raised my head and noticed small snowflakes lightly fall around me.

"Yes, I'm fine" I quickly replied and with a wave of the hand sent the snow away "I'm sorry, I'll see you tomorrow for the next lesson. Leave this room in fifteen minutes or something like that" I said hurriedly walking away.

"No, you're _not_ okay" Hans said, grabbing my hand blocking me "Your Majesty, that look and the flurry are not good. What's wrong? What did Skylynn tell you that she didn't tell me?" I huffed and gave him the letter to read as he let me go and I sat down on the piano stool.

"It didn't go well…" I said, inhaling deeply running a hand through my bangs "The meeting with the Wessel ambassador didn't go well, Hans. Something is coming up and it is bad… and if my suspicion is right… I don't know if I can handle it" He folded the envelope.

"Perhaps you're just over reacting" he said trying to reassure me "Sky didn't say it involves your kingdom as well"

"You know your own sister! If she wants to tell me what happened in person, it is _bad_ " Hans didn't reply to that, he knew I was right.

"Don't over think it and wait to hear out what my sister has to tell you" he said breaking the heavy silence "I know that maybe my opinion doesn't mean anything to you but…You are a good queen, your Majesty. Whatever is coming up, I know you'll be able to handle it" then he held his hand out to me "Now, I suppose you have some writing and thinking to do. Don't let me keep you occupied any longer. I'll see you tomorrow for lesson 2" he added with a smile on his face. I hesitated for a moment, but then, thinking over his words, a small smile appeared on my face, I took his hand and he helped me up.

"I do have some thinking and writing to do… and you have some castle duties to attend to" I said and with that we bid our goodbyes and I got out of the music room. Maybe he was right, maybe I was overreacting. Perhaps I was wrong, perhaps war was not coming… but I couldn't help but think that was it. I had this nasty feeling that I was horribly right in my assumptions. Why else would Skylynn rather speak to me in person rather than through a letter? There was one question that bugged me most of all: if war is coming… will I be ready? Hans said that I can handle it… but can I?

* * *

 **Here is another Helsa moment. So Sky didn't write her what is coming. How do you think Elsa will react when she finds out her assumptions _are_ right? Will she be able to handle it? Will the Westerguard siblings play a special role in her new foe that is war?  
Did you like the Helsa? What do you think of Elsa trying to put an effort in her and Storm's courtship? What did you think of Anna's small appearance in this chapter?**

 **Let me know in the reviews! More HELSA is coming up!**

 **Thank you for taking your time in reading and reviewing!  
See you next chapter! ;-)**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	25. Another Unexpected Side of Hans

**Hi guys! I'm sorry for the delay but I had to rewrite this HELSA chapter.**

 **ATTENTION!  
I don't have a Beta reader and I'm not really sure about this chapter, I hope I did not exaggerate in cheesyness or in portraying this side of Hans, so in case you guys think it's too cheesy and boring, if you have any suggestions to improve it please tell me and I'll modify the chapter, or I'll simply take this down, write a new one and post that one instead.**

 **Also, if there are some beta readers out there who are looking for an author to help out, their help is very welcomed here.**

 **Also: SPOILER ALERT for all those who haven't read Black Beauty or watched the movie!**

 **Here it goes.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Elsa's POV:**

If Skylynn's intention was preventing me from catching a wink of sleep by not being explicit over what happened in her land, well, she clearly succeeded! Sleep had been hell for me since I read that letter. Unfortunately I couldn't really blame her, if I had precious information I wouldn't have sent it in a letter with a courier, I'd communicate them myself. Still, that was no excuse to be lazy and ignore my queen duties especially after Sky's warning. Luckily it wasn't too much a busy day, and I had the time to re-read Sky's letter and note a few things to get done just in case my suspicions were right, after my second dance lesson with Hans. He seemed to sense my nervousness, but he didn't look too calm either. I assumed that Sky must have said something to him too and my reaction to her words had made him worry a bit too. If there was one person who really knew what could be at stake it was him, and Sky is still his sister. I would be surprised if he didn't worry.

Speaking of Hans, anyone would think that after seeing his sudden change in attitude, him saving my life more than once, his will to redeem himself at least to my kingdom's law and admitting that he felt guilty about his crimes, nothing was going to surprise me ever again. I found him proving me wrong when he said he saw my powers as a gift, when he did not use my one major weakness against me after I confessed it to him, and when he said he was sure I could handle whatever situation was coming up. These last few days, I weirdly found myself spending a lot of time and speaking with him much more than I ever did over these past few months and every time I thought I was getting closer to knowing this Hans, the more he proved me wrong. Today had been no exception and it had started like every normal day!

After reading Sky's letter, once again, I summoned an extra meeting with the council members to make some check-ups. I needed to know how we were doing and if we had resources. Soon after that, I personally made a visit to the army barracks to speak with the generals and see the training. One thing that I did notice was that as soon as the training soldiers saw me, they immediately started training harder. Probably because they didn't want to look lazy and show their queen they were working hard, which they were already. The generals were oblivious to why I had come to speak with them, but assured me that the troops in each of their departments were training hard and well and that we had the numbers… which mostly seemed like a way for them to reassure me everything was fine… or maybe it's just me seeing my own troops unprepared because of how much this bothers me.  
Telling Anna before speaking with Sky was only going to make matters worse and I was probably going to ruin her day too, but when I did meet her it didn't take her long to convince me to take a break and distract myself a little bit since I looked 'a little too tense' and she was right. A small distraction was only going to do me some good at the moment.

The library was my immediate stop. There was a book waiting for me to be finished and wanted to get to it right away. I entered the room quietly, taking in the silence and the smell of paper in the room. I walked to the shelf I remembered placing the book in and settling down on the comfy couch, slipped my shoes off, tucked my legs to the side, and started reading. My head was immediately absorbed in the book, images of the scene happening in that page going through my mind like a play. I had turned at least ten pages when I heard a small noise. My head snapped up trying to figure out where was it coming from. It sounded like a single sniffle. I didn't hear anything for a few more seconds, but another quiet sniffle followed. I placed my bookmark into the book and went looking for who was crying in the library. Another small sniffle was heard the moment I found who it was. Hans was standing on top of the ladder leaning on a shelf, intently reading a book. He wasn't sobbing or actually crying, but he had tears falling down his emerald eyes that were glued to the book. Now that is something I was NOT expecting to see: Hans Westerguard being brought to tears by a book… and not just any book.

" _Black Beauty_?" I said reading the title.

"Queen Elsa!" Hans exclaimed jumping like a frightened cat, catching the book as it almost fell and making the ladder dangerously fall back.

"Hold on!" I said and pinned the ladder back to the shelf with my magic, Hans holding himself onto the ladder for dear life "I'm sorry for startling you. Are you alright up there?" I asked as he breathed a sigh of relief.

"I don't know if I'm more embarrassed for almost killing myself or you catching me reading instead of working" he replied, loosening his grip on the ladder a bit, but not daring to look at me.

"In all fairness, I'm too stunned by seeing you crying over _Black Beauty_ to actually care about you not working, right now" I replied. His face flushed tomato red.

"I wasn't crying! Some dust got into my eyes! It's very dusty up here" he replied and he immediately wiped his tears away from his face, looking away, then he placed the book back in its place "I'll immediately get back to work! I-"

"-You were reading the part where Ginger dies, weren't you?" I interrupted unable to contain a small smile "I cried like a baby when I first read it… it still gets me, actually" I confessed. Hans stopped cleaning the shelf and looked back down to me, surprise written all over his face "And considering your love for horses and the fact that Sky named her horse after that book, something tells me this isn't the first time you read it either" Hans just stared blankly at me for a few seconds.

"After dreaming of a life together, seeing the love of your life die in those conditions, considered less than a mere tool, is heartbreaking…" Hans finally confessed.

"Even for a horse" I added. Hans just nodded his head resigned that he was busted.

"I know, I'm ridiculous…" he added.

"Because you get emotional over a book? Not at all. I told you, I cried too" I replied calmly.

"It's different, I'm a man!" he replied "I shouldn't get so emotional over every single romantic novel I read" he said taking his cloth back and dusting the already clean shelf "Don't get me wrong, you already know about my love for philosophy, I also really like theatre like yourself, and I enjoy a good mystery or adventure book, but I shouldn't be so… _emotional_ over these!"

"Why? Because your brothers said so?" Hans froze and I knew I had nailed what was the issue. He sighed.

"Man up or go cry like a baby in your own room, those were pretty much their words" I knew how that felt. Sure, my father wasn't abusive like his brothers, but I knew what it felt to learn to be ashamed of a part of yourself.

"We all have our guilty pleasures" I said trying to ease him from the embarrassment "There's nothing wrong with tearing up over a book, it just means that the author got to you and the message was clear. If you love romance, I see nothing wrong with that. It's just who you are and what you like. Who cares if society created the ridiculous label of _'romance novels are meant for women_ '…" Hans gave me a small smile.

"Is this the part where you tell me Princess Anna loves horror stories?" he asked.

"No, they give her nightmares and she hates it. She's into romance just like you… but she does have a guilty pleasure for mystery" I replied.

"Well, you clearly can't be an exception example" he said going back to cleaning. I raised an eyebrow.

"Why not? I'm not exactly ordinary" I asked.

"No, you are not normal. You read about geometry!" he teased.

"Says the man who devours philosophy books!" we both involuntarily chuckled.

"Oh my God! You and I are never really going to get past that issue, are we, your Majesty?" I averted my gaze pretending to be thinking about it.

"Probably not" I replied with a small laugh. Hans chuckled and taking the cloth with him, he started to climb down the ladder, his embarrassment gone.

"You know, we've spoke for a while about books, but you never really told me which is actually your favorite book" he said curiously, standing before me.

"It's not _The Snow Queen_ , that I can tell you that" I told him.

"You're not going to ask me to guess it, are you, Queen Elsa?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"No, I'm asking you to tell me yours first" I replied "Just for safety" he stared at me.

"You believe that as soon as you tell me your favorite book I'm going to say it's my favorite too even if it isn't" he understood, but fortunately he didn't seem offended by it.

"Can you really blame me? You never know with you, so… Isn't that what you did to charm Anna? It's predictable!" he thought about it.

"No, I guess not and yes, I did. But I'll admit it: sandwiches are not my favorite, I'm more of a chocolate chip cookie person" he said with a teasing smile on his lips.

"So, what's _your_ favorite book?" I challenged. Hans didn't reply when he realized I was not changing topic. He hesitated like he didn't know what to say.

"I…" he started, crossing his arms "I really like Jane Austen, _Pride and Prejudice_ is my favorite" he said and I felt my face fall "That one time you came to speak with me in my temporary room, you actually caught me reading my favorite book, and yeah, very feminine I know, but-…" he stopped "What's that face? What did I do?" he asked, making me notice that I had been staring weirdly at him.

"Nothing! I- I just…"

"Is _Pride and Prejudice_ your favorite too?" he asked me.

"…yeah…" I admitted "How come it is your favorite? I mean, you like romance, I got that but… why that one in particular?" I asked him. Then I was utterly taken by surprise when I saw another faint blush on his cheeks.

"I… I don't know. I just… I am completely in love with Elizabeth Bennett. I just love her character, her strong personality her will to do what she wants" he said leaning on the ladder, looking away "I mean, I've never had a _real_ relationship before and… if I were to be in a relationship, a serious one, I'd like my significant other to be like her. Mostly I'd like to be like her when it comes to decide what to do with my life regardless of society's opinion. My brothers have always teased me about it… they said I should have spent more time sparring or boxing rather than reading books and that if I had to read books they should have been manlier like _La Chanson de Roland_ for example or _King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table_ …but I… I was just a little more into… romance genre, I guess? Or -you know- something about feelings and relationships with others…acceptance… love…?" he said shyly. A real look of innocence passed through his eyes, catching me off guard. Elizabeth Bennett was actually my favorite character too for the exact same reasons. I looked up to that character as a role model because of her strong personality, just like Hans said.

"I sure was not expecting that. You're a really… sensitive guy, aren't you?" I said watching him closely.

"W-what? No! N-no! It's not that! It's just that… books make me think, they're like an escape from the reality I live in…" he said "And… Pride and Prejudice got me to think that if I were to be in a serious relationship with someone…it shouldn't be just physical or because of -you know- providing heirs or climbing up the social ladder- I mean- yes, creating your own family is important, especially if you're royalty, you use it to secure alliances, as you well know- but marriage… I see it as something else…" he paused as he lost himself in thought .

"Like what?" I asked, curious to hear his opinion on the matter.

"It's spending the rest of your life with someone you love… it's being the only man in her life… it's telling her she'll be the only woman in yours… promising her a future together, is accepting and loving one another no matter what life throws at you. I like Elizabeth Bennett so much because I'd like to have a woman with a strong personality by my side, someone who is not afraid to say what she thinks, or someone that would keep telling me she doesn't need to be protected although she knows I'd keep trying to do that, you know… someone that makes me feel special by allowing me to make her feel special and loved, like Elizabeth did Mr. Darcy and vice versa in their own way… someone I could talk to… like about serious stuff… things I can't talk to anyone about with…" I couldn't help but look at him warmly as he opened up to me. Then I shook myself out of it, as a voice in my head reminded me who I was talking to.

"Like… what kind of things?" I asked him.

"I-I don't know! Anything"

"Like… _this_ sort of topic?"

"Yeah…" then, it seemed like he too realized what he had just done as he quickly straightened back up "But you can't tell anyone! Or-or next time I-… I won't hesitate!"

"Killing the queen is high treason, you should know that" I challenged with a smirk.

"What about threatening a… _duggah head_?" he replied as we had both destroyed the quiet moment.

"That's not a word" I said.

"It's _idiomatic_ " he tried, clearly knowing he was talking nonsense "You should be a little more in touch with the people" he added, taking the empty bucket next to the ladder and putting the cloth in.

"Define: _duggah - head_ " I challenged.

"In two words?"

"Yes"

"Queen Elsa" I looked at him with my mouth agape as I didn't come up with any comeback at the moment. He turned back to look at me and raised his eyebrows playfully with a satisfied smirk, knowing he had won this time. He then bowed his head and excused himself to get back to work, as I headed back to reading my book before returning to my own duties as well. That there was a person underneath the fallen prince had been clear to me the first time we actually spoke, but I was surprised at hearing his opinion on marriage, especially from him. But the way he said it made understand that while telling me this, he had been thinking about what he had done and had come to the realization that if he and Anna had indeed gotten married, he would have soon figured out that he would have never really loved my sister as more than a good friend.

One thing was sure, he was different. Different from how he presented himself to be, different from how I expected him to be, different from how he is turning out to be. Now he's shy and unsecure in some aspects, but he's also funny in his way and pleasant to be around and a very determent man with principles… sometimes I wonder how I couldn't have seen that before.

* * *

 **Thank you all for reading this chapter! Let me know what you think about it with a review! As usual I quoted a movie and a TV series, can you guess them? Who else noticed that what Hans's opinion over marriage is exactly what Elsa told Kristoff when he asked her Anna's hand?  
Thank you for reading and for reviewing!  
If anyone wants to be my Beta reader, let me know and please tell me if you want me to change the chapter.  
**

 **See you next chapter!**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	26. The Piano

**Elsa's POV:**

Yesterday was day 3 of dance lessons with Hans and we almost got caught already. Don't get me wrong, he was basically teaching me waltz basic steps a few feet away from me, but still, if Kai had caught the queen taking dance lessons by the traitor it would have been quite hard to explain. Unfortunately if I denied it, I would be lying: I enjoyed his dance lesson. It was like having to deal with a completely different person. He was extremely professional. He just told me the steps, showed them to me and after setting the music box he counted the rhythm with me as I tried them. The closest he would get was holding my gloved hands as we tried the steps together, at arms distance, or gently touch my back telling me to straighten up a little and lower my shoulders the third time he told me so. At first I couldn't help but feel very uncomfortable. Since we didn't have mirrors and no one else was there to watch us, at some point Hans would have to step back and watch me do the steps alone. I felt ridiculous and stiff… very, but Hans was actually very encouraging and patiently corrected me. I couldn't help but relax after a while and I felt very proud of myself when at the end of our second lesson he told me that I was actually pretty good for a beginner.

Today, we were going to have another lesson, same time same room. When I got there though, Hans was already in the music room. I didn't enter immediately. I stayed outside the door for a bit and observed him from the small opening of it. Hans just casually walked around the room, looking at some of the instruments. Then one caught his eye: the piano. I watched him as he silently walked there and touched it, making his fingers slide along it's black surface. Then he opened the keyboard's lid and examined it. His green eyes intently staring at it in temptation. He wanted to play it so badly. Then he gave in and played a note with his finger. Just like me his face lightly twitched when a very off-pitched G came out. As he went to try a chord, I decided to enter the room, my ears once again disgusted by the off-pitched Em7, followed by another awful G# as I closed the door. Hans tried to play another chord and obtained the same result, he lifted his head up and met my resigned and amused gaze.

"Uhm… I believe this piano needs some tuning" he greeted with a half-smile.

"Yeah, that'd be nice" I replied. There was a small silence as Hans gazed at the piano, then he smiled lightly.

"I could tune it for you if it pleases her Majesty" he said. I looked at him slightly surprised.

"You can do that?" I replied, Hans nodded and before I could say anything else he immediately got to work. The only help he asked me was to play a note when he asked me to. It took us a few minutes, but then he managed to tune it perfectly. Confirmation of that was when Hans sat down and played a few chords that were a delight for our ears, rather than that distorted sound the piano had made earlier.

"Aw… much better" Hans said satisfied.

"Agreed" I replied "This piano hasn't been played in years, if you haven't noticed" I said sarcastically

"Oh, really? I would have never guessed" he answered with the same sarcasm. There was another small silence, then Hans got a mischievous look in his eyes. I could tell he was up to something. "You have great taste in literature, my Queen. I wonder how refined your taste in music is" Hans said with a small smirk. I smirked back.

"I don't know… how refined is _yours_?" I challenged. Hans didn't reply, but the mischievous look in his emerald eyes didn't go unnoticed, as he put his hands on the keyboard and-

" _Moonlight Sonata,_ 1st Movement" I said with a smirk. Hans looked at me shocked.

"I haven't even started playing!" he said "How did you know I was going to play that? What are you a soothsayer? A mind-reader?" I laughed lightly at his comment.

"No, unfortunately my powers don't extend to that" I replied "It's your sister's favorite. Whenever I find her alone in the other music room, she's playing that. Since you taught her how to play the piano and you two are very much a like… "I didn't need to finish the sentence. Hans stared at me half amused.

"You're bonding a little too much with Skylynn" he replied.

"And she's bonded _way_ too much with you" I replied. Hans shook his head with a small smile, then he thought for a moment and his face lit up the instant he had a song in mind to play. Immediately his hands started to gently glide on the piano, perfectly executing the arpeggios, making lovely music. It was one of my favorites.

" _Fur Elise_ , Beethoven" I said. Hans didn't say anything but nodded with a smile and kept on playing. I noticed that the song had changed, but it took me a moment to realize that he had skillfully done so. I smiled as I recognized the composer and his work. It didn't go unnoticed by Hans as he did the exact same thing he had done before, once again elegantly changing the masterpiece and the author. He was trying to make it difficult on purpose. I didn't say anything and waited for him to finish, but apparently I hadn't hid my smirk well enough as Hans turned to me and noticed my gaze.

"You _so_ know what I'm doing!" he said with a bright smile.

"Mozart and Beethoven, you mixed them up" I replied "From _Fur Elise_ , you went to the _Piano Sonata #16_ and ended with _Pathetique Sonata_ "

"Correct, my Queen, you brilliantly passed!" he said smiling.

"Thank you" I said with a small bow of the head, then a silly idea came up to me "Play something that describes you" I said. Hans looked at me confused "You heard me, it's silly, but I'd like to listen to something that you think describes you" By the glint in his eyes, I could see that Hans like the idea, he thought about it for a moment, then he lit up.

"I have it. It's not a classical piece. It's a song, but I believe it fits me very well" he replied, then he started playing and singing starting with passion. **(A/N: check out Santino Fontana's audition song for Frozen)  
**

" _I… am… Pretty oh so pretty_ " And I cracked up. I couldn't help it, I wasn't expecting it! Hans just smirked at me as he kept on playing and singing the lively tune with his deep voice.

 _"_ _I am pretty and witty and bright,  
and I pity any guy who isn't me at night_. _  
I am charming_ \- oh , so charming-" he sang giving me a playful 'charming' look and I couldn't help but laugh even harder.

 _"_ _It's alarming how charming I feel,  
and so pretty that I hardly can believe I'm real.  
See that pretty guy in that mirror there?_ -What mirror?-Where?- _  
Who can that attractive guy be?_ –Wait!-What?-Where?-Who?-  
 _Such a pretty face, such a pretty suit, such a pretty smile, such a pretty me"_ By now Hans was on a roll, owning the scene

 _"_ _I am stunning!  
and entrancing…  
feel like running and dancing for joy,  
for I am such a perfect wonderful boy!"_ and with that he proudly concluded the song. I couldn't help but give him a small applause as Hans gave me a theatrical bow before sitting back on the stool.

"I served you that one on a silver plate" I said still giggling. Hans was laughing with me as well.

"I didn't even try to restrain myself, I just had to" he replied chuckling.

"Forget I even asked" I said shaking my head.

"Sorry, that's what you get for trying to be poetic" Hans said. I shot him a challenging look.

"Poetic? Oh, no Hans…" I started making myself comfortable, sitting beside him in front of the piano. Hans looked surprised at first, I knew he wasn't expecting me to do so. "Asking me to play a piece that I believe describes me and answer with _this_ is poetic" I replied, placed my hand on the piano and started playing Vivaldi's _Spring_. It was an allegro, _much_ different from what Hans had been playing. From Hans's small chuckle, I could tell he had recognized it immediately, but didn't say anything and let me play. It was a relaxing an cheerful melody, one that could put you in a good mood. Playing it in this moment gave me that effect, it was relaxing. I glanced at Hans and saw him with his eyes closed, beside me, listening, with a small smile on his lips. I couldn't help but feel a wave of pride as I saw my piano playing skills appreciated, especially since I hadn't played the piano in a while. At some point I would hear him hum the melody beside me, but I felt his eyes on me throughout the whole song, sometimes I caught him glancing at my hands as the piece was quiet fast, but mostly his eyes were either on me or closed as he visibly enjoyed the melody. The moment I finished the piece, Hans opened his emerald eyes and glanced at me with a tiny smile.

"Lovely, my Queen" he commented "Now watch the master and learn" he added placing his hands on the piano.

"I heard you humming it while I was playing, tough guy, I know you liked it" I said with a smirk.

"I never said I didn't like it. I loved it in fact" he replied "But you want fast? I'll give you fast" and then he immediately went back to playing. It was still Vivaldi, only this time it was _Summer_. It was indeed fast, impetuous, like a storm and Hans was playing it flawlessly. It was rather impressive, and he was completely into the piece. Watching him playing something so powerful was captivating… kind of like how he was when he was passionate about something. He was concentrated and I couldn't help but keep my eyes on him for the whole time. In a way this piece sounded a lot like Hans. I didn't know if he was doing it on purpose or not, but if there was a piece that would describe him it would have been this. It was challenging, like he was and like he had made this piano playing session become, only that he had misinterpreted what I was challenging him on.  
When he was done playing, he looked at me proudly.

"Impressive, Hans" I replied as he was done "But I don't want fast, I want emotion" I said and placing my hands on the piano I replied to his piece with De Falla's _Amor Brujo_ from _Ritual Fire Dance_. It started in a low key. The melody was challenging, captivating, dark. It was one of those masterpieces that made you think of danger and darkness, but the sort of darkness that you can't help but feel attracted to. It was a piece that makes you feel that whatever you are facing or the game you are playing is dangerous like fire and like fire you can get burned if you are not careful, but at the same time there is that part of you lethally attracted to it and you can't help but go for it and get burned.  
There was a pause in the melody, about a minute from the beginning, where I juggled with two dark notes and it was then that Hans started playing beside me. It was the moment in which the music started to slowly take a different turn. From the captivating beginning, the music was slowly taking the form of a dangerous game of prey and predator, in which no one could tell which was which.

Hands gliding on the keyboard in perfect harmony, just a few glances where shared between Hans and I, most of them accompanied by a smirk as I threw the bait and he chased or he threw the bait and I followed. Like a fatal attraction, we were both enjoying this and because of who we were, we both knew this enjoyment meant we were now playing a dangerous game, but like the entrancing dark music neither of us cared, both prey of the melody. Like wolves in a fight, circling each other before daring a move, our hands would come across each other from time to time, playing the chords in the other's territory before going back in our own space.

When we got to the short ending climax of the melody it was when the real duel began, our eyes met and our hands glided across the keyboard, coordinating each chord with precision and eagerness to outdo the other. Every strike counted. The music was like the realization of what you have been doing all along and in panic you try to escape the dangerous fire that has been pleasantly burning you, but you realize it is now too late. The music was like the flames circling you, engulfing you with a powerful force you try to fight, but in the end after your last attempts to desperately escape, you succumb.

The moment we finished playing was when the both of us realized what we had just done: a perfect 4 hand improvisation of a masterpiece. We had both come to that conclusion in an instant as the next moment Hans had cheerfully grabbed my wrists, pulling them close to his face in a proud, happy jubilation. His smile couldn't have gotten wider as mine.

"That was exhilarating! You are an amazing piano player!" Hans commented with a happy gleam in his eyes.

"So are you! I never did anything like that with anyone before!" I replied with the same pride.

"In another life we would have been a great musical duo. We have an _amazing_ chemistry!" he said with his emerald eyes gleaming.

"Yes... yes we do…" I replied smiling, a light silence filled the room as Hans and I looked at each other in the eyes. It was then that I realized how close we were, but I also then that I realized what I had been doing. While Hans had grabbed my wrists in cheer, I had extended my fingers to gently caress his face. A chill ran down my spine and my heart started beating hard as Hans's eyes showed a shock the moment he realized that as well. I embarrassedly cleared my throat, retracting my fingers immediately as Hans let go of my wrists, clearing his throat as well, then I stood up, with Hans's eyes following me dazed. That only added tension to the awkwardness.

"Uhm… I believe our dance lesson will have to wait" I awkwardly said.

"Huh? Oh! Duty calls… yes, sure, my Queen! I'll go back to own duties as well" he replied still looking at me with those eyes.

"I'll…uhm… I'll see you tomorrow… for… dance lesson. Goodbye, Hans" and with that oh-so-eloquent reply I left the room, not before glancing back and catching Hans's gaze still on me, but immediately looking away the moment he got caught.

* * *

 **And there you have another chapter! More Helsa chemistry building up! Your opinion on this encounter? What about the last moment?**  
 **REVIEW and let me know what you think!**

 **See you next chapter!**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	27. Teaching and Letting Yourself Go

**Hi guys! I'm so sorry for the long wait, but I had some stuff to do and study for University... and they told me yesterday night that they postponed the exam that was supposed to be today... I hate my university sometimes...  
Anyway! I also had to rewrite the chapter and it has a lot of Helsa in this! So... I really hope you like it and that it makes up for the long wait.**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Also, try reading Hans and Elsa finally dancing together listening to 'Fix you' or 'Only Hope' (Switchfoot version)**

 *** _amarkrìa= "bitterness" in Spanish and Greek mixed up together. It's the latin bachata dance and if I remember correctly it means "music of bitterness", hence the mixed up name._**

* * *

 **Hans's POV:**

 _Dear Sky,_

 _let me get this straight… you saw Milah, your mom, at the docks with Father and… they hugged each other before he left? That was unexpected. What do you think that stack of letters she gave you is about? Personally, I think you should open them. If you don't want to do it alone we can do it together once you're back. How are your duties in Drakora going? Are you and Storm good? From your last letter it sounds like you two had fun on St. Aegeus, one of those Drakorian events that the ruler is not allowed to miss out, but somehow you always end up having a good time. But in all seriousness, it's good to hear that you and Storm are getting closer again. I understand that after your husband passed away it has been hard for you, I know that dancing an_ _ **amarkrìa***_ _with someone it's a big step for you and I'm happy Storm finally got you to dance that again. He's a good man and a good friend._

 _Now that I think of it, (I suppose Elsa told you about me giving her waltz lessons) once she gets more confident with herself, do you think I should teach her the_ _ **amarkrìa**_ _? I know it might be considered a little risqué here in Arendelle, but luckily we're not in the Isles, Elsa might try it. Her sister definitely would.  
Speaking of Elsa, you are the worst supporting little sister ever. So, ignoring your previous teasing, to answer your question, NO. Elsa and I have not spoken of that small accident at the piano. There has been a little awkwardness, but now she seems to have forgotten about it.I admit that I never expected Elsa to be such a good piano player. I know that now I'm just repeating stuff, but I never had such a musical empathy with anyone. If I think about how everything began, what I feel towards her is weird. Don't get any strange ideas, what I mean is that even if our relationship is strictly 'professional' (let's call it that way), I enjoy spending time with her. Like the dance lessons, I like teaching her how to waltz and sometimes we even share some good laughs. On a few occasions it happened that I opened up to her like I never thought I would and she understands me. When we had our first dance lesson, she told me a few things that not even her sister knows. We're never going to say it out loud, but I feel like Elsa and I are friends. I never thought that could have been possible, but here we are. She probably hasn't told you to prove her point that she's more professional than you are, but sometimes, when we talk, we bicker. Not too much, but there have been a few comebacks that an inmate should keep to himself in front of a queen, and some others a queen should hold back for her professional image… and I like it. I like being able to be so natural with someone who isn't you or Sitron._

 _Speaking of being 'professional', that she has the potential to be a great queen is clear to us both, but lately I heard some of the staff talk about a few things she did in political matters, mostly they spoke about how determent Elsa is in having her ministers doing what she wants them to do for the kingdom. It seems like when it comes to ruling she's getting more and more confident. It's a good thing to see. Her only problem is Anna some times. Unfortunately, the Princess has a hard time switching her way to see Elsa from sister to institutional figure. I'll keep it short: she talks a little too much and I can see that Elsa is struggling with how to manage her without hurting her feelings. I really hope she asked you for advice on that, if not, give it to her because unfortunately, unless she asks, I'm in no position to do it. She can't have Anna act without asking for her permission first or speak up in matters she shouldn't be involved in without being asked or trying to make decisions without telling the queen first. I know Princess Anna means no harm, she wants to be helpful, but to others this attitude can be interpreted as the Queen not being able to stand up to her younger sister, it could influence her authority, not to mention that it could also be considered as a lack of respect towards Elsa's figure._

 _There are other things I'd like to tell you, but duty calls and I'm going to have to end the letter here.  
I hope everything is going well in Drakora.  
Take care, Tiger_

 _Love_

 _Hans_

I folded the letter and placed it under my pillow. Tomorrow morning, I was going to try to pass the letter to Elsa so that she could send it to Skylynn. Today was important. I didn't know what all the commotion was about, but yesterday Elsa had been very busy. She actually confessed that our dance lesson had helped her relax a little. Our lesson today was going to be a little different. It's about time we start practicing in closed position. Anyway, apparently Elsa had an important meeting today with the councilmen and as usual Anna was going to be there, especially since these days Elsa has been rather busy, she even canceled our dance lesson for today. I don't know if I'm supposed to say fortunately or unfortunately, maybe no one even noticed, but apparently I was on duty in the assembly room… and the moment I got there, I realized why. It was going to take a while, something about changing in a few law designs regarding the economy and something about statistics.  
Personally, I have no idea how much weight I lost just by walking around the room and going to refill the water jugs, usually getting some sneaky glares by Anna. Things were taking a while, but just when I thought I could finally leave and wait for Elsa in the music room for our dance lesson, things got a rather bad turn.

"Now, that we've got that covered" Elsa started moving away the papers from their previous statistic topic "Let's move onto the national economy" she said "First things first, we need to apply a modification to our forestry act"

"Speaking of" Anna interrupted standing up "Regarding the forestry act, I wanted to inform you that Lord Holmberg and I have discussed this and have agreed that the modification should mainly concern upon the wood production"

"What did you do, Princess Anna?" Elsa with a stern voice. The air became chilly and for once it was not because of Elsa. Anna had no idea of what she had just done in front of the ministers. For a moment I remembered of my letter to Sky, sure that Elsa was just going to let Anna talk, give her a small scolding look or a quiet warning, but the moment I took one look into Elsa's eyes I realized: she had already spoken with Skylynn. Anna was going to be in for a big surprise.

"Well, lately, because of… you-know-what, there have been some damages, not to mention that lately there has been a huge need of wood also because of the needed upgrades to the docks, schools, hospitals and various other infrastructures, also like the ice-harvesting base and the army barracks. Because of all these works, in order to do the needed repairs _and_ these various jobs our need of wood productions has considerably increased and if we keep it up at this rate, soon enough we could run into serious problems" Anna explained, not even realizing the mess she was getting herself into "So Lord Holmberg and I agreed that the modification of the forestry act should be that new forests must be planted or naturally generated after felling when the land's capacity to produce timber is not fully exploited. Then, that planting or measures for natural regeneration must have been completed by the end of the third year after felling" the room was getting colder and colder and by the look in Elsa's crystal eyes, I could see how angry she was getting.

"Another thing is that disused agricultural land must be reforested within three years of the land falling into disuse" Anna continued, an enthusiastic look in her eyes "Also, reliable methods and suitable species of trees must be used in the forestation work. Natural regeneration can be a good method if the site is suitable, too" Anna looked at Elsa, proud of herself and hoping to have made her big sister proud to. The ministers didn't dare to utter a word, but some of them looked at each other stifling a smirk.

"Princess Anna, have I given you any sort of mansion or title in order to do what you've just expressed?" Elsa said, standing up herself glaring hard at her sister, with such a stern authority that no one in the room ever heard her use. The smirking ministers' eyes widen in shock and Anna's face fell in confusion . Elsa's eyes drifted towards the minister "And you, Lord Holmberg, have I told you that the Princess was supposed to take care of this with you?"

"No, your Majesty" the minister replied, lowering his head.

"Perfect. So can one of you explain to me how was it possible for this to happen?" Elsa demanded by the both of them.

"Forgive me, your Majesty. It was my mistake, I should have spoken with you beforehand" the minister said "But please believe me when I tell you that there was no intention of bringing harm to your person. I must have misunderstood Princess Anna's words. I swear it will never happen again"

"Very well, Lord Holmberg. I accept your apology" Elsa said and turned toward s her sister.

"But- I- I- but- well…" Anna stuttered "But, Elsa"

" _Queen_ Elsa, Princess Anna" Elsa snapped coldly.

"Yes, Queen Elsa- but I did it for you! You've been working like crazy! I just wanted to help you-"

"I am _not_ your older sister in here. I am your sovereign" Elsa said with austerity. That sentence made Anna realize that Elsa was angry at her "I expect you to have an appropriate behavior that follows the rules of this government" Elsa said, her voice steady and severe "This means that you cannot make decisions without following the protocol which requires to inform the queen _before_ taking action" Elsa said impassively "Have I been clear enough for you all?" she demanded, looking at all the ministers and her sister. The men muttered silent yeses, while Anna remained quiet, shock written all over her face.

"Was I clear, Princess Anna?" the queen demanded, with her voice severe but powerful, even if not raised one bit. Anna flinched taking a slight step back. For a moment I froze, until I realized it wasn't fear that had made Anna take that step back, it was shock. I let out a quiet sigh of relief, I was afraid that had Elsa spotted fear of her in Anna's eyes she was not going to go through with what needed to be done. Anna lowered her head looking at the floor, trying hard not to show that she was hurt.

"Y-yes…" Anna replied quietly, before glancing slightly at Elsa who seemed to be towering over her even if just a couple of inches separated the sisters, looking back at her with serious expectant eyes "Yes, _your Majesty_ " Anna corrected herself with a small voice, not able to look at Elsa "Forgive me, it will never happen again" she finished.

"Apology accepted, now please sit back down" Elsa replied. Anna didn't need Elsa to tell her twice and she immediately sat down. She glanced one more time at the ministers and then Elsa sat down herself "Now that we cleared that up, however, I'd like to have a word with you privately, Princess Anna. Meet me in my study when the meeting is over…" the queen said. Anna quietly nodded "And I approve of this _proposal._ It is exactly what we need" Elsa finished.

The only thought I had when I got out of that room was 'wow… that was intense'. This is hard to say it without making it sound like Elsa needs someone else to tell her what to do, but the way she took back the reins of the situation was very Skylynn like. They must have talked. Elsa got mad, that was clear, but the way she put Anna back in her place was definitely _not_ how she normally did. Elsa usually tried to be a little more gentle with Anna, like a scolding look she noticed, or a small elbowing or simply calling her name with a little more serious tone. Elsa didn't want to hurt her feelings because she knew Anna had started to butt in too much because she wanted to help and had good intentions. I had never seen her being so direct and so severe with her little sister. But-hey- sometimes you need to be harsh to get the message, especially if in Elsa's position. I didn't know what the two sisters told one another after the meeting since I had made my way to the music room waiting for Elsa, but I knew it was none of my business.

* * *

 **Elsa's POV:**

I'm not going to lie, I was nervous. I could tell Anna was hurt. I just tore her to shreds in front of my ministers and the worst part was that I wasn't done. Now I had to give her the rest as an older sister. As soon as the meeting was finally over, I headed to my study and waited for Anna. It didn't take long for her to knock on my door and get in, closing the door behind her. When I looked back at her, she was standing with her arms crossed and her brow furrowed as she looked towards me. She was trying to show me that she was the one who was angry now, but I know my sister, and the fact that she couldn't look at me in the eyes was the sign that she was actually trying to hide that she was hurt.

"You said you wanted to speak to me, _your Majesty_?" she said distantly. I hated this. I hated fighting with Anna, but this had to be done. I had to do it… for her own good.

"Yes, I did" I said, standing up from behind my desk and stepping in front of it, so that I could face her without anything between us "What in the world made you think that you could pull something like that, Anna?" I said, managing to keep my voice strong "How could you dare to talk across me and go behind my back?" Anna remained at loss of words once again. She was not expecting me to scold her again and not this harshly.

"I-I did no such thing!"

"Oh, really?" I snapped coldly, not raising my voice one bit "Didn't you just say, in front of all the ministers, that _you_ and Lord Holmberg sorted things out _without_ reference to **_me_**?"

"But I meant no harm!" Anna exploded "Why do you have to be so hard on me?! I just thought that-"

"-I know what you thought, Anna" I snapped raising my voice to cut her off. Anna flinched at my sudden outburst, but understood that meant she had to be quiet and listen to me "I tried to be subtle more than once" I started calmly "But you have crossed the line, today. So let me be very clear, I want this to be the first and last time for me to ever say this to you: when it comes to making decisions for the kingdom it is _only_ up to **me**. You may be the Princess, but until _I_ give you an actual role in the government, you are just my sister and nothing more"

"Then why am I even assisting to these meetings, then? You insisted on that!" Anna said.

"You are there to _learn_ and know what happens in the kingdom, because in case something happens to me, Arendelle needs a leader" I said.

"So I'm just the spare" she said and this time, I saw tear roll down her cheek. It took all my strength not to go hug her and apologize immediately, but I kept still.

"No" I said gently and took a step forward "You're not just the spare, not to me" I paused as my sister quietly met my gaze again "Look, Anna… I know you had good intentions. You just wanted to help me and as a sister I appreciate it and I'm happy to see you wanting to take care of our people. As a sister I'm very proud of you" as I said that I saw Anna's watery eyes starting to light up again as she had a hint of a smile on her face.

"Really?"

"Of course. You always make me proud. The idea you had was brilliant" I told her softly. Anna tried her best not to smile and scratched the back of her neck "But as queen, I cannot tolerate having the princess or anyone else take action and take care of government business without me knowing. You had good intentions but going behind my back and passing me over like that is usurping my role"

"But-"

"Anna" I said with a warning look.

"Sorry…" she muttered letting me go on.

"What makes it worse has been you admitting it during a Council meeting as it were nothing. I know you wanted to help me, but you always have to reference to me first. You can't make decisions without my consent because I _have to be the **first**_ to know what is going on. _I_ am the one wearing the crown and that means that if there are to be mistakes, they have to be mine and no one else's, especially not yours" there was a moment of silence. "Though I have to say… I also share part of the blame" I admitted. Anna stared back at me "I should have reprimanded you like I did today a while ago, a long while ago"

"Like when?" Anna asked shrinking in her shoulders a bit.

"Like all the times you spoke without being addressed or shared your opinion to the ministers or dignitaries when not asked, or treating me like your big sister in an institutional situation" I told her. Anna looked to the floor.

"I understand…" my sister suddenly said "I just… you're my big sister to me and it's hard to switch back and forth from seeing you as 'the Queen' to just 'Elsa'… but I understand. You are the queen and you can't risk having anyone do anything that could question you or your authority, especially if that person's me. I'm sorry. I promise it'll never happen again"

"Good" I said wiping her tearstained cheek with my thumb "Or next time I'll have Hans tutor you in shoveling horse poop for a week" I joked

"You wouldn't" she said. I raised an eyebrow.

"You want to find out?"

"Uhm… no" she ended. We shared a small laugh, then I opened my arms. Anna smiled relieved and immediately stepped into my embrace, hugging me tight as I kissed her hair. I didn't like fighting with Anna, but this argument today had to happen and it had done some good to the both of us.  
When I joined Hans into the music room he seemed… a little fearful of asking me how it went, noticing I was actually in a good mood. He clearly wasn't expecting me to be so happy, meaning that he couldn't restrain himself from asking what happened and I found myself feeling free of telling him everything.

"I thought the Princess was going to be mad at you" he said as I placed the metronome on the piano.

"She was and she was hurt" I replied "I didn't want to come to that but _this_ is what happens when I follow Sky's advice and you know what the worst part is?" I asked turning around to face him "She was right" I said with a small smile "It was the right thing to do" Hans's lips twitched into an understanding smile.

"Well…" he started and slightly surprised me when he leaned on the piano beside me "It sounds like this little episode had a certain impact on not just Princess Anna, but you as well" he said crossing his arms, our shoulders barely brushing one another.

"It did" I replied honestly "What I did today… I should have done it right after the first warning, instead I let her get away with everything and basically let Anna believe that she could act like she eventually did" I paused, thinking "I can't shield my little sister forever, Hans… and I can't mix up family with duty" I confessed "I can't… _teach_ her without risking of hurting her feelings sometimes. I'm not going to help her grow up if I tell her what she wants to hear" I paused letting out a small ironic laugh as I thought about what I had just said "Gosh, even hearing myself say that now makes me realize that even _this_ is wrong. It's-"

"-It's not up to older siblings to help their parents' children grow up" he cut in, reading my thoughts. Our eyes met as soon as he said that "I know a thing or two about it. Difference is your parents loved you and died, my father deliberately ignored Sky, but at least she had a mother"

"Yes, but you did half the work and you're _half-siblings_ " I replied "It doesn't change much anyway"

"That is true… at some point we all realize that the first approach was not the best. I had to teach Sky to live among sharks"

"And I have to teach Anna that being royalty is more than just serving your people and that unfortunately it is also a matter of boundaries that don't care about blood… but it's hard to teach"

"-Something you're still learning yourself?" Hans said with a small smirk.

"Yes, precisely" I replied smiling back "And juggle it with your own responsibilities..."

"With your own life…tell me about it" Hans replied with an ironic half-laugh. I looked away but kept a smile on my face. He read my mind like an open book when it came to this, another realization came up to me as I though this over. Hans and I locked gazes once more.

"I'm sorry" Hans suddenly said, his face turning serious. My smile faded.

"You already apologized and I already gave you an answer" I said looking away.

"I'm not apologizing for my actions" My head snapped back at him.

"What for then?"

"I'm apologizing because we're alike" he said "You're so young, Elsa. You shouldn't be struggling between being a good sister, an example for Anna and an example for your people at the same time at your age… and I shouldn't have faced what I had and be talking this way at mine. You shouldn't have all these responsibilities upon your shoulders alone, you should focus on one thing at a time and slowly learn how to juggle this all, not all together" We both looked away from one another. In any other situation I would have reminded him, who he was talking to and how to address me, but this was so sincere that I couldn't.

"Would you recommend me to find a suitable husband to take care of these responsibilities for me?" I asked.

"Not _for_ you" Hans replied meeting my gaze " _With_ you" Silence ruled among us for a few seconds that felt like eternity. No lies. He meant it all… he understood. Then he cleared his throat and stepped away.

"Enough with the serious stuff. We have a dance lesson, your Majesty . Let's get to business" he said holding his hands out, motioning me to come to him.

"Alright. Let me put my gloves on" I said and without further delay, we started our lesson.

* * *

 **Hans's POV:**

"You're not serious"

"You bet I am, your Majesty"

"I think we're good like this"

"I'm the teacher and I say we're not" and with that I grabbed her gloved hand and with a quick pull made her half twirl right in front of me. So before, going back to what was going on, I'll make a short summary of what happened after we stopped talking about serious stuff. We have been practicing for a while and I have been adjusting her posture more than usual, today, but it was time for her to learn how to actually dance in 'closed position'. That was what she was complaining about.

"So, closed position is the typical waltz position" I started explaining "Woman's left hand goes on man's shoulder" I said taking her gloved hand and placing it on my shoulder "Right hand in man's left hand and man's right hand on woman's shoulder-blade and not on waist, because it's easier to give the command for the figure the man wants the woman to follow" Elsa nodded understanding.

"D-do we have to be this close?" she asked unsure. All her confidence from a few moments ago was gone, now replaced by the vulnerability of the fear of freezing someone gave her.

"Actually, we have to be closer" I explained.

"What?!" she exclaimed jumping further away.

"Come back here" I said rolling my eyes and catching her fleeing hand, lightly pulling her back to me "We have to be closer because at arm's length like we were a second ago I cannot give you the command, which means I can't lead you. Any man couldn't lead you and considering you're learning for Storm, you have to think that he'd like to be closer to you, not to mention that he's used to the Drakorian _amarkrìa_ which has a lot of figures consisting of rubbing up against each other" Elsa gave me a look and I realized what I had just said "Okay, that sounded bad. Point is in that type of dance man and woman are much closer together, but it's nothing scandalous, don't worry. I can teach you if you want to"

"Eh, another time. Alright. Let's do this" she said and took a step closer to me putting her hand back on my shoulder. I kept on explaining how to stay in closed position, starting from how to keep her hand in mine so she could feel the command, or telling her to relax her shoulders once again, or explaining her the difference between receiving the command on the waist (wrong) and on the shoulder-blade (correct), moving my hand back and forth as I explained. Then I heard her stifle a giggle the moment we were actually about to start dancing.

"What?" I asked

"Nothing" she said, barely hiding her amused smile.

"What is it?" I asked, smiling myself.

"Nothing just… I didn't want to say but… any excuse to touch me today" she noted.

"You're beautiful. Who wouldn't?" I slapped my hand on my mouth the moment I said that even though I was sincere and using a friendly teasing tone. Elsa just gazed up at me with inquisitive crystal blue eyes and a raised eyebrow "I'm so sorry! That was so inappropriate coming from me. I'm no position to say that. I apologize, your Majesty-"

"It's okay, Hans" Elsa said, cutting me off with an amused smile "Sincere compliments are always appreciated from anyone… thank you" she said with a small nod of the head. I let out a breath I was holding in relief.

"You're too kind, Milady" I said smiling embarrassedly. There was a moment of silence. I cleared my throat and returned to the topic "So, let's get back to business" and with that she preceded me to lean back over to the metronome and started it. We started dancing the basic steps. At first Elsa was slightly hesitant, but I kept encouraging her and as she started to get more confident, she started to move more fluidly, following my lead.  
Soon enough I started to show her a few basic figures, like the natural turn and reverse turn, the natural spin turn and others. There's no way of denying it: Elsa was good, very good. She just needed to feel confident enough to do things, in fact I also managed to teach her a couple more advanced figures without a complaint. It was the moment we took a small break that a crazy idea popped into my mind, precisely when I took off my vest, remaining in my V-neck shirt. I was pushing it, but I knew it would have been good for her, especially today.

"Ready for short review and new figure?" I asked her, walking back to her rolling my sleeves up to my elbows, nonchalantly passing where Elsa had placed her gloves for a moment, while she wasn't looking. Her eyes met mine as she turned around.

"Yes. I just need to-" she cut herself off looking around "Where are my gloves?"

"In my pocket" I replied. Elsa panicked.

"Hans, give me my gloves" she said seriously.

"No"

"Hans, I'm not joking. Give me my gloves back. I don't want to risk freezing you"

"You won't" I said going for her hand to get back to dancing, but she moved away.

"No. Hans, I need them"

"No, you don't" I said managing to grab her bare hand "Listen, your Grace. This fear about freezing people is all in your head. You can control your magic. I saw what you did today, the self-confidence you had allowed you to do what needed to be done and you didn't freeze anyone"

"It was different"

"No it was not. You didn't freeze anyone because you knew you could handle the situation without hurting people with your magic. After what you did today in that assembly, I won't let you run away from your gift. Think about Storm, holding your hand with gloves is not the same thing as without them. He understands that this is a struggle for you… It'd mean a lot to him if you allowed him to hold your bare hand" I soothed her. Elsa remained quiet, her eyes showing she was thinking "Look, you may not trust me and you have every right not to… but for what it's worth, I trust you. I know you won't hurt me" That seemed to take her aback. I realized that the more time we spent together, the less we could hide from one another. Pretending not to have become closer was becoming like getting to know someone you've never met.

"You… _trust_ me?" she replied. I don't know where it came from, but I took the situation one step forward. Elsa paled, trying to pull her hand away when I placed her palm upon my heart, barely an inch above my shirt's neckline. Her hand was cold and the contact upon my skin sent shivers down my spine, but didn't allow myself to show the chill.

"More than anyone" I replied meeting her eyes "And believe me you've given me plenty, very good reasons to do so" Silence ruled among us for a moment, the only sound came from the ticking of the metronome. But Elsa looked towards my chest, where her cold hand was slowly covering it with small frost. Elsa swallowed hard as she tried not to spread the coldness through me even further.

"Why do you want to help me with this so badly?" she asked.

"Because you helped me, regardless of what I did to you. It's my turn now" I replied, giving a small squeeze to her hand "You can control it. Come on, let's get back to dancing" Elsa almost sighed in relief, but then she noticed that I wasn't letting go of her hand while I placed her other hand on my shoulder.

"Like this?" she asked uncertain.

"I just need my hand on your shoulder-blade to lead you right now" I said putting my hand in position.

"B-but-"

"-Your Grace, if you can't dance with me, you'll never be able to dance with a man you're attracted to" I said "Now, stop complaining and follow my lead"

 **Elsa's POV:**

And I did follow his lead. Hans didn't even give me the time to complain again as he started to waltz. But what he had just said made me think… stupid thoughts anyway, of course I'm attracted to Storm! He's the perfect husband material and I'm learning how to dance for him! Hans was right, though. Storm never did or said anything to make me uncomfortable. He understood, showing him that I was not afraid of touching him without freezing him was even more important than just dancing. I was going to show him that I trusted him. With that thought, I followed Hans's lead.

I had never thought that Hans would become the one who was helping me the most with my powers. When he held my bare hand and placed it on his chest, right over his heart where the shirt's V neck-line didn't cover, I was terrified and struggled not to leave more frost that was now dangerously forming not just on my hand but on his warm skin too. As we danced, I thought back to a few moments ago. At first I thought he was just acting brave for me, he knew what he risked, but then I realized that no matter the frost and the shivers he was trying to hide, his heart was beating steady, it wasn't rushing like it happens when nervous of afraid. It didn't miss a beat. It was in perfect rhythm.  
I knew I wasn't supposed to, but my eyes kept going from my feet to staring to my hand on his chest, as I noticed the thin frost going over his hand as well. I started to panic, I could hurt him in any moment. My words died in my mouth as Hans's hand moved from my shoulder-blade, under my chin, lifted my face up. My eyes met his serene emerald green ones.

"Look at me" he said softly "Don't look at your feet. Don't look at your hand… just look into my eyes and let yourself go" he smiled gently at me and as he placed his hand back on my shoulder-blade we started to dance once more. At first it was awkward, I kept telling myself he had other aims, but just by looking into his eyes, I knew he did not. He was helping me out of kindness… and I let myself go… following his lead as he suddenly pulled my hand and made me twirl.

Suddenly I found myself smiling as I followed his steps, realizing that I was dancing. I was _actually_ dancing. Hans smiled widely at me as he commanded another figure I had just learned, finding myself with my back to his chest and his arms around me, holding my hands. He freed me from the figure and pulled me back to the normal closed position. In the blink of an eye I felt different… I felt… I felt like a 21 year-old dancing with a 23 year-old guy who cared and just having fun. Not caring about the closeness that was new to me, or the feeling of a man's hands holding mine, twirling around and feeling normal. For the first time I saw Hans's features differently, he was smiling, letting himself go as well as he elegantly moved and had me do the figures he had taught me. At some point he made me twirl and the second I was facing him he held my hands in the way that meant he was about to lift me up and spin and I found myself ready. He lifted me up and spun on himself, placed me back on my feet, took a couple of steps and lifted me up again, placed me back on my feet and lifted me up again doing the same move, but when he placed me back on my feet he immediately moved into another figure and I followed finishing in closed position.

"Very good!" Hans congratulated cheerfully, I smiled back proud of myself as he made me twirl away and once at arm's length "Jump!" he said giving my hand a small pull. I twirled back to him and jumped as he swept me up in his strong arms. My arms were wrapped around his neck, my fingers felt his silky auburn hair as he spun me around. We found ourselves laughing lightly, smiling carefree to one another. Hans then gently set me back on my feet, going back in closed position, he twirled me again in both directions and with a final pull, I twirled back to him, only to have him place his hands on my waist lifting me up and spinning me around once, as I placed my hands on his shoulders to help him hold me. We ended the dance with him gently placing me back down, my left hand around his neck and my right hand slipping back on his chest, only to be covered by his warm one, holding it in place on his beating heart, just like we had started.  
We remained quiet staring into each other's eyes, both catching our breath from the dance. Hans smiled at me satisfied.

"See?" he said. My eyes trailed down to my hand on his heart as he moved it away. Not once since we started dancing the thought of the ice crossed my mind and the small frost that had formed on his chest a moment ago had vanished. I smiled to myself realizing he had been right. I looked back up to him "I knew you could do it" he said gently.

"Yeah… I just had to let myself go" I replied.

"Precisely" he replied. We were silent for a moment and only then I realized how close we actually were, not just him holding me closely and my hand on his heart, underneath his larger one, but even our faces.

 **Hans's POV:**  
Only then I realized how close we actually were, not just me holding her closely and her soft hand on my heart, underneath my own larger one or her left hand around my neck with her fingers brushing my hair, but even our faces were close. Her eyes were so beautiful, intense and the clearest shade of blue I had ever seen. Then for the first time ever one single thought, that I never believe I would have had, crossed my mind the moment my eyes glanced down to her lips: what would it have been like to kiss her? It was then that I realized that I was thinking about crossing a dangerous line.

"Well" Elsa said and took a step back as I immediately let her go, but kept her hand in mine. She didn't complain "I need to go now… Thank you for this lesson. I… guess you were right… dancing with gloves wouldn't be the same as dancing without them"

"You don't need to thank me. It was my pleasure, my Queen" I replied

"Elsa" she said softly, almost shyly, and I froze.

"I beg your pardon?" I said unsure I heard correctly.

"When it's just us… you can call me Elsa" she said and her shy smile made me forget about complaining.

"Alright then. It was my pleasure… _Elsa_ " I said and before I could even realize what I was doing, I brought her hand up to my lips I placed a soft kiss on her knuckles. For a moment we remained silent looking at each other, then she slipped her hand away from mine.

"Well, then. I'll see you tomorrow" she said taking a few steps back.

"Yeah. I'll… I'll see you then" I replied. Elsa didn't say anything but with a final glance back at me, she walked out. I walked to the piano and immediately sat down on the stool, running a hand through my hair and told myself that this had to be the first and last time I wondered what it'd be like to kiss her.

Only then I realized something. Today I had helped her win a very important battle for her and the proof of it was right in my pocket: Elsa had forgotten her gloves.

* * *

 **And there you have it! This is a total Helsa chapter and it looks like our lovebirds are getting very close. So? What did you think about this chapter? Good? Bad? What about the Helsa moment(s)?  
REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW and let me know what you think.  
**

 **See you next chapter!**

 **The Princess of Stars**

 **P.S.**

 **By the way, I dance salsa and bachata not waltz, I read up some stuff and I apologize to all the waltz dances reading this if I mixed up some names.**


	28. Of Projects and Marriages

**I'M SO SORRY FOR VANISHING LIKE THAT! I know, I haven't updated in decades. In my defence I've been in the middle of the exams' winter session, so most of the time I spent was on linguistics, romance philology and anthropology books, not to mention the english linguistics part 2... AND the english exam with the mothertongue teacher... AND work, because I tutor in both Italian and English... AND rehearsals for both the plays I'm taking part of. So, yes, I've been kind of busy... and crying because Elena of Avalor was on a break... Still! I hope that I can make up for it with this chapter and the next that hopefully will be out soon!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **A/N: there is a certain movie mentioned here. Of course, in this world, they are talking about a famous book.**

* * *

 **Elsa's POV:**

Skylynn was planning on making me go nuts.

Seriously?! How would one react to a letter that _says 'I'm returning with a few Drakorian ships. Don't shoot us with your cannons'_? It's true, for all I know it could be trading ships, but considering her first cryptic letter and the sender herself, I'm not too sure what Sky's idea of ' _a few_ ' is, especially when I fear it is not going to be trading ships. There was something different in this letter though. She was either in a rush, or something bothered her. Sky was writing way too formally and business like. Sure, she did tell me about some of the stuff that was going on, but it was very summarized, she didn't even tease me about my last dance lesson with Hans, when she did have teasing material and even if I thought there wasn't, she would find it anyway.

Ever since we had our discussion, Anna started acting weird. Everything was fine until she went out with Kristoff and although he was all calm and happy Anna seemed… I don't know. It's not like she was sad, but there was something off. She wasn't her usual volcano-self. Maybe it was about the wedding? I'm not too sure, especially since she didn't wait too long ask me to 'give her away' and be her Maid of Honor and asked Skylynn and Gerda to be her bridesmaids. Of course, when she asked we accepted jumping up and down between hugs including Gerda among us. Kristoff hadn't wasted too much time either since Sven was going to be Kristoff's best man and Kai was going to be his groomsman. Good thing for me, since I was going to walk Anna down the aisle, I didn't have to walk with Sven. As I said earlier though, Anna didn't seem as enthusiastic as she was before since last afternoon. She must have probably been in the _'pre-marriage stress phase'_ , as Sky dismissed it in the letter.

The first thing I did was inform the Generals not to assault any Drakorian ship coming to dock. Following, I headed to another meeting, this time with the ministers. During the meeting a little problem emerged and, obviously, I needed to find a solution as in _immediately_. As the meeting was adjourned, my next stop was the library. What better place to get inspiration and gain knowledge than the library? I was alone when I got in and immediately got to work as I sat at my usual place after taking a few books from the shelves. Unfortunately, the architecture and history books, for once, didn't really seem to work and maybe my brain was refusing to do anything since I couldn't help but go back to that moment I shared with Hans in the music room.

I had danced. For the first time, I had danced _without_ my gloves and I had allowed to completely let myself go. That hadn't been it, though… when we stopped dancing, Hans and I stared at each other and he looked into my eyes in a way that no one ever did. It did not feel uncomfortable. I felt his heart beating fast under my palm, but only because we had been dancing, he was calm, relaxed even… and so was I. I scolded myself though when I had found myself looking at his lips and for a moment I thought I was going to receive my first kiss when I realized he had glanced at mine… but my rational side made me pull away from him… maybe he pulled back as well for the same reason. Still, my rational side scolded me for even thinking about it even now… it was wrong in many aspects… without mentioning that I had Storm, who had willingly put his neck on the line to clean his name from the mark of treason for me… but the more I tried to think about Storm, the more my mind went back to these past days with Hans and how we were getting know each other for real.

I shook myself out of it and re-read the first line of… I lost count of how many chapters from various books I had read already, but in the end, I got back to work, focusing on my research. That was until I would have found the solution in another book, maybe. I got up and went back to the architecture section and looked for the book which wasn't there… but of _course_ it was on one of the high shelves.

"Good morning, Elsa" said a smooth voice I had learned to recognize anywhere.

"God, this is so cliché!" was my greeting, throwing my head to the side in frustration. Of _course_ he had to walk in right now! "Hi, Hans" I greeted back with an awkward smile, looking back at him.

"What is _'so cliché_ '? My library cleaning shift starts now" he said as he walked to me with an amused smile on his face.

"I've been here for a while and, of all moments, you choose to walk in while I'm stretching up to try and reach that book? Sounds pretty cliché to me" I said raising an eyebrow at him.

"Oh, you mean this?" he chuckled and effortlessly raised his hand taking down the book. He glanced at it, reading the title. I took that moment to glance at him. He was in his usual work clothes: black boots, pants and sash tied around the waist and V-neck shirt with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The clean cloth he was going to use to dust the place, draped on his right shoulder.

"Architecture" he stated "I hope this has nothing to do with your geometry obsession" he replied handing me the book.

"Thank you and no, it has nothing to do with it" I replied walking back to my seat, placing the book on the table and opening it to the chapter the other book referred to, with Hans trailing behind me. "I was trying find some inspiration from my ancestors' doing to solve a little problem" I explained "Which if I don't solve now it probably won't end well for the kingdom, and this problem is called: wealth and unemployment" I told him.

"I get the unemployment, but with the wealth I'm confused. What happened?" he asked concerned.

"Arendelle has been doing well for too long, that's the problem. Apparently, my reforms have fixed the previous problems before they could seriously become dangerous and that's the good news. The bad news is that our kingdom has a growing surplus of trading goods and the other kingdoms that have been having their own problems can't trade with us because they can't afford it. Lowering tariffs is impossible as they are already low to make trading possible. This is why I've been trying to find other trading partners, but I can't rely on too many. Drakora and Corona are my allies and trading partners, but for example I can't have an alliance with Weselton, for obvious reasons, I can't have one with the Southern Isles because they are not in very good terms with Drakora, and lets not talk about Meintank"

"Basically, trading is not enough anymore" Hans said.

"Exactly, not to mention our demographic increase over the last 25 years" I replied "The idea I have is to make some investments with the Northern Isles and the Hykaria Imperium. That would not just solve the offer-request problem, but it would also help with the unemployment. I already have a few projects and-"

"-wait" Hans cut me off "Are you thinking about creating new structures to employ more people?"

"Yes. That way both problems will be solved. Arendelle shall remain wealthy and there won't be any unemployment anymore" Hans looked at me in the eyes with a smile.

"You're brilliant" he said genuinely. I felt myself blush slightly at his compliment, especially when he was looking at me in that way, with such… admiration.

"Thank you" I said giving him a small smile, glancing back to the books, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear and tried to concentrate back on my priority task "But the reason why I'm looking at these architecture books it's because creating new working structures means industrialization and that means that people from the countryside will start moving to the towns, but…" I trailed off.

"You don't know where to put them _without_ packing the town centers or having to demolish old building to make space" Hans finished, picking up like I expected him to. I glanced slightly at him as he leaned with an arm on the table, his eyes locked on the book in front of us.

"I looked up a few projects" I continued "But considering the social class of people that will go there, they won't be able to afford it. While those that they _can_ afford would result in overcrowding, not to mention the fact that apparently, these are all projects made by those ancestors of mine that I'm not proud of. Those like King Leopold VI, Queen Gertrud III or King Nikolaj V, who treated people like they were animals, so I get you figure why none of the projects are good" I explained him.

"I do" Hans replied, straightening up and looking back at me "A similar thing happened about 6 years ago in the Southern Isles. I studied the thing on my own and have been experimenting some plans, which of course… no one listened to" he said, pointing to the obvious "As you said, new working structures mean industrialization. Industry in the Isles had been expanding so fast that, unlike what you are doing for your people, no one there considered where the workers would have lived. But, as I earlier mentioned, I had been experimenting… may I show you?" he asked and, not even waiting for my answer, he took a clean paper and the quill and started sketching. I admit I couldn't help but admire his knowledge and care in those who were less fortunate.  
"I came up with this housing method, which is both economical and efficient" Hans said drawing "By building these in units of two, you can build safe, comfortable, clean homes for _two_ families, and by adding another two units _on top_ of the first two divided by a staircase, you can get in two units, the same quality of homes for _four_ families, for _less_ than the cost of-…" Hans abruptly stopped talking, avoiding eye contact with me, in what seemed like embarrassment "I'm sorry, it's not my place to be talking, I didn't mean to preach…" he said ashamed.

"It's alright Hans, there's no need to apologize for being passionate" I told him "And to tell you the truth… I think you just solved my problem" I confessed, looking at the sketches "Considering the difference in climate between Arendelle and the Southern Isles, some changes need to be done in roof matters, which my architects will take care of, but other than that this is actually a wonderful idea" Hans didn't say anything, but gave me a small side smile. "Do you mind if I keep this?" I asked him. Hans then surprised me giving me a full smile and immediately made a copy of the same sketch. They were exactly the same, only that the second one had _Hans Westerguard_ nearly written on the corner.

"One for the ministers and one for you" he said handing me the papers, smiling.

"Thank you… _Architect_ Westerguard" I teased. He chuckled to himself, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

"Guilty pleasure" he confessed.

"That doesn't involve geometry or technical drawing _at all_ " I said sarcastically "You _do_ know I'll remind you of this every time you tease me about my passion for geometry?"

"I'll make that sacrifice if it means helping you out" he replied lightly raising his hands in surrender with a playful smirk.

"Speaking of helping me out…" I said pointing to the pile of heavy books beside us. He didn't even glance down before replying defeated:

"The books" I gave a curt nod of my head "Got it" and he immediately gathered the books in a couple of piles, before grabbing one of them and walking to the shelves as I only took one book following him to the shelves. We started working quietly, trying to put the books back in their places. Up until a few days ago these kind of silences would have been very awkward, not to mention that I'd be wary of him and ready to freeze him the moment he made a sudden movement. But now they were comfortable and I managed to think about other things rather than Hans trying to pull something funny. Like if reading my mind, it was Hans who broke the silence, right when I was about to speak to him.

"An ordinary dress" Hans noted "That's what was different about you today" Okay, maybe that wasn't exactly what I wanted to talk about.

"I thought for a change" I replied "Just because I have ice magic doesn't mean I always have to create my ice-dress" It was true. I thought it would have been nice to wear something normal for once. It was a long sleeved purple dress with a high neck, a black bodice with golden and purple thin decorations and a matching purple cropped gilet with golden rosemalings.

"I know" he replied "You're right to remind your people that no matter the magic and the crown, at heart you're still a normal person"

"You think a dress can do all that?" I replied a little skeptically since I just thought I'd wear something different.

"Sometimes the smaller things that come most natural to us are actually the ones that send greater messages" he said.

"Now you're just playing philosopher" I replied putting a book away. Hans smirked.

"Open your eyes" he said with a knowing grin "Observe your people's attitude towards you" I rolled my eyes shaking my head.

"And here I was thinking to give a few points to the man who solved my problem" I said hiding my smirk.

"Do you really think my sketches will solve Arendelle's problem?" he asked seriously, putting a book away.

"I do, actually" I replied truthfully "Not to mention that it is probably my only and best option. Plus, we'll never know if it works until we actually test it"

"Actually, they appear to work… at least they do for the Drakorians" he said. I halted, my hand still on the book I had just put away, and looked back at him "Yes, I gave Sky and her husband those same sketches for the rebuilding. They too did their modifications, but they seem to work"

"Well, I'm glad you told me because, before you took notice of my attire change, I needed to tell you something regarding these projects" I told him. Hans nodded at me, meaning that he was listening, holding the books in his arms "I just wanted to make sure that you were aware of the fact that if I present this to the council I won't be able to give you credit for it"

"I am aware" Hans replied "I know that, because of how things are right now, if the councilmen knew that I did this project and you supported it, it would be a huge scandal, not to mention the sure-to-come gossiping regarding our association. To the eyes of Arendelle, as of now, I'm a traitor and inmate… and I've caused you and your sister enough trouble. The least I can do, no matter the punishment, is helping you out as much as I can. Not because I have to, but because I _want_ to" we both remained silent for a moment. My gaze met his as I tried to analyze his thoughts. He was leaving it up to me, willing to accept whatever I wanted to do to avoid the possibility of scandal.

"For now the responsibility I'll take will be of putting my people's future new homes in the hands of an anonymous uprising architect. But I promise you that if it works, when the time is right I'll make sure the people know it was your doing. You have my word" I promised him. He deserved as much.

"Thank you, Elsa" he said with the hint of a smile "For now, I'll write Skylynn to tell her and Storm about this. They'll cover for us as well" he said putting a book away.

"Yeah, I'll write her too" I replied, taking a book from the pile in his arms and putting it away. There was a comfortable silence between us for a moment. A moment in which Hans and I sent each other some sort of looks of complicity. The more I thought about it, the more I thought we were a good team. It was then that Anna barged into the library calling my name.

"There you are! Elsa! I've been- _Oh_ … he's here too..." she stopped dead in her tracks "Why am I not surprised?" she added, glaring at Hans who politely bowed his head in greeting response.

"Hey, Anna! How can I help you?" I asked her smiling at my sister. Anna crossed her arms with a stern look on her face.

"I need to talk to you. Family matters" she said and glared at Hans again "and _he_ is **not** part of the family"

"Here comes _The Godfather_ …" Hans muttered under his breath and I forced myself to swallow back a small laugh, but a tiny hint of a smile appeared on both our faces. I didn't know he had read that too.

"Hans, you can go get a glass of water or something. We'll finish later" I said, then I remembered something Kai had told me about "Another thing, did Kai inform you about the shift change?"

"No, I haven't seen him, yet. What do I need to do, my Queen?" he asked.

"Kai told me that there are two new horses that need immediate training and I told him to inform you that someone else will be taking your usual cleaning shift, since you're needed at the stables today" I told him. Hans looked at me puzzled, thinking about it for a moment.

"Yes, your Majesty. Which shift?"

"The one you start at 4:30p.m." I explained. A look of discontent passed through his eyes and vanished as soon as it appeared when he realized it was the same time we usually started our dance lesson. I sent him an apologetic look, unfortunately that was the only available time, but that wasn't it "And you have to start at 3p.m." I added.

"As you wish, Queen Elsa" he said as he put the books back down on the desk, then he bowed to me and went towards the exit, bowing his head to Anna on his way out. As we heard the library door shut behind him, there was a moment of silence as Anna looked at me inquisitively. Then she uncrossed her arms and clasped her hands behind her back, walking to me faking nonchalance.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've been observing him and noticed that he's rather… clingy with you" she said.

"Hans… clingy?" I replied raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, _clingy_ , he's been following you around like a puppy for days, not to mention… _obliging_ "

"Anna, he's working as a servant. It's his punishment. He _has_ to be obliging" I noted.

"A Southern Islander prince like him is not obliging without hopes of getting something in return" Anna replied "I have a few theories on the matter: either you somehow tamed him and got him wrapped around your finger, or you put him under some sort of spell, _or_ he's just being his normal bootlicker-self trying to charm you in order get off the hook, which I'm pretty sure it is, especially since he started being so clingy since Storm left" she noted

"Unlikely. He knows his place and my position and he respects it. Plus, I needed a few things done and Hans was the only staff member around at the time" I replied.

"Perhaps" Anna said "But, you know, sis… I don't really like having him work here when you're alone in the library. I mean, he may have saved your life a while ago, but I haven't forgotten what he tried to do… I'm sure you haven't either, but I know how sugary the things he says are" she said. I rolled my eyes huffing.

"Anna, if you're worried about him trying something, don't. I'm perfectly capable to handle myself, plus, I can tell when someone is lying, or in this case, when Hans is lying" I said, folding the paper Hans had given me and putting it in my gilet pocket. Anna didn't miss it of course, but probably dismissed it as something I was working on "Anyway, was this the family business you wanted to talk about?" I asked her. Her face fell in defeat.

"No…" she said "It's about Kristoff"

"Oh, speaking of Kristoff, did you tell him to stop overdosing with that cologne you gave him for your… _monthaversary?_ \- whatever you called it- I'm starting to miss the pungent reindeer king smell, seriously, how much does he put on every day? I can smell him from 6 miles away!"

"Yeah, I was actually planning on doing that. But no, that's not the thing. It's about the wedding, something bad happened" Anna said. That caught my attention, but considering the way she was telling me, the worst that could happen would have been not finding the frosting for the cake.

"And what is that?"

"Kristoff can't wait to marry me"

"Oh my God! That is terrible!" I exclaimed theatrically placing a hand on my heart.

"It _is_ terrible!" Anna said "You start with marriage and then you end up finding yourself with a house full of children!" Okay, now _that_ got me. Anna was actually talking serious matters. "And don't get me wrong, I love kids. Just-"

"-hold it! Hold it!" I said stopping her "Start from the beginning, what happened?"

"It happened that, after you and I made up I had some time to think over a few things. Then Kristoff took me out for a picnic, a 'picnic on ice' in the mountains, remember?" she started. I nodded "Well, a moment we were talking about wedding arrangements, he said he was the happiest he has ever been and couldn't wait to marry me and then next moment he adds that I should know that he was expecting a pretty large family" Anna said distraught. I took my sister's hands in mine.

"Anna, it's normal to have second thoughts about marriage, especially since it's getting closer" I tried to reassure her.

"That's what I thought too, but-"

"-I bet Kristoff must have had second thoughts as well, it's normal. No one is 100% sure about marriage, nor having kids"

" _He_ **_is_**!" Anna said desperately "But that's not the thing. I thought I was having second thoughts too, but… the closer the date gets, the more I realize that it's not marriage what is bothering me… it's that…" Anna paused and took a deep breath "Elsa, I love Kristoff. I love him and I'm sure that he is the one want to spend the rest of my life and have my own family with but… just not… not now" she said, looking to her toes. So that was what had been bothering her lately. I know it might sound bad… but unfortunately I saw it coming.

"I'm 18, Elsa" Anna continued "and although I feel ready to get married, I'm not ready to take on its responsibilities… I just… I'm not ready to let go of my youngster life… I'm not ready to become a parent. Kristoff is… but… _I_ am not" she confessed. Then she asked me the question I was hoping she wouldn't ask me. "What do I do? I don't want to hurt him, but how do I tell a guy who dreams about having a family with me that I'm not ready after I said yes to the marriage?" I tried to think quickly for an answer. Truth was, I was glad Anna had come to this realization rather soon. Call it instinct, but I knew they were rushing into things the moment Kristoff came to ask for my blessing. They didn't have the same life, of course a man like Kristoff would be ready to settle down sooner than Anna.  
The moment she had asked me that question, my first reaction was panic that I managed to hide: it was fear. It struck me that I was afraid of upsetting Anna and hurt her feelings, like I had been all those times before our argument. This was another parent talk that Mama and Papa couldn't have with her anymore and I had to step up in their place. Hans's words voicing my same thoughts rang back in my head: it shouldn't be up to the elder siblings to raise your parent's younger children. It wasn't fair to us… but it also wasn't fair our younger sisters to not have a normal life, for how normal their life can be. They were seconds but it was all it took me to make up my mind as a voice in my head yelled at me: _Enough! Quit being a scared parent and help your sister! If she gets upset with you, it's fine, it happens! You'll make up later! Get it together and STEP UP!_

"Tell him the truth, Anna" was my straightforward reply. My sister looked back at me, slightly surprised at my tone of voice. I realized it had come out a little harshly. "Go to Kristoff and talk to him" I continued gently.

"How?! How am I supposed to tell him without hurting his feelings?" Anna asked desperately.

"Just be honest with him. Tell him what you told me" I replied, rubbing my thumbs over her knuckles, reassuringly "I can't guarantee you that he won't be upset at first, but if you keep this to yourself Kristoff will realize that something's bothering you sooner or later and if you stay silent he will start questioning himself and ask what _he_ did wrong" Anna's eyes darted up from our hands to meet mine "That rings a bell doesn't it? You've seen where shutting you out brought me, don't do my same mistake to Kristoff, especially when you know what it feels like"

"I don't want to hurt him…" Anna insisted softly.

"But you _will_ if you keep delaying" I told her gently "Kristoff's your fiancé, you have to tell him if you're not happy or if something is not okay and, right now, you need to be truthful and tell him that you love him but you're not ready to go to the altar. More specifically you need to tell him what brought you to that realization. It's not marriage itself you don't feel ready for, it's parenthood because you still see yourself as a girl and not as a woman" Anna sighed in distress, looking away. Harsh, I know, but that was exactly the real problem and she knew it.

"Yeah…" she replied swallowing the truth. I let go of one of her hands and gently tilted her chin up for her to meet my eyes.

"Anna, calling off the wedding doesn't necessarily mean breaking up. No one is forbidding you to have a longer engagement" I told her "Plus, if Kristoff really loves you, he'll respect your decision and will wait for you for as long as you need. He'll understand" Anna's lips made a slight upward twitch, only for an instant as she hesitated before asking me a most natural question.

"And if he doesn't?" she asked.

"Then he's not worth it and most of all he doesn't deserve you" I replied, fixing her bangs with my finger, smiling reassuringly at her "Let him in and work this out together. There's nothing to be scared of. Okay?" Anna nodded thoughtfully, taking in a breath.

"Okay" she agreed. I cupped the back of her head and placed a kiss on her forehead, before pulling her in for a hug.

"Now" I started, pulling away from the hug "We have a meeting to attend to in 10 minutes so we'd better get going. After that, you'll go find Kristoff and have a little chat with your fiancé"

"Queen's orders?" Anna joked.

"No, Big Sister's orders" I replied. Anna giggled along with me and as Kai entered the room to call us for the meeting, we made our way to the assembly room. We both knew that we would have had to get back to this conversation later, hopefully for some good news. Anna wasn't upset though, that's a good thing, _and_ she seemed motivated to go talk to Kristoff right away. Regarding the meeting, the council was ecstatic about the sketches. I was starting to regret telling them that the project's author had asked to remain anonymous. The councilmen were trying anything they could to try to get a name out of me. Why didn't I just scrunch it up a bit and told them that I had found the sketch in the achieve? Oh, right! They would have noticed that the ink was new.

As soon as my head architect arranged the few roof changes with a sketch and explaining everything, I gave my permission to start with the works and to send a few delegates to Hykaria and Osengard, and even if I complained at first and a few men agreed with me, I also sent the delegates to the Northern Isles now, just before storm season started… another trip I didn't want to send my delegates on, but was unfortunately necessary. When the meeting was over, Anna went to class with Mrs. Hyles and I headed to my study to take care of boring paperwork and reading trading proposals, not to mention the other meeting that followed. I was slightly surprised to see Anna join the meeting, but ever since we had that argument she no longer needed me to drag her to them. As soon as the meeting was over, Anna said she was going to look for Kristoff and talk to him since she hadn't found him earlier. She looked uncomfortable and I didn't blame her, anyone in her position would be, but with a little encouragement she nodded her head and went to find her fiancé immediately. I watched as Anna walked away, hoping for the best outcome of their talk.  
I looked up towards the pendulum clock in the hallway and saw the time. Today had been a long stressful day and I needed to distract myself. I decided to go pay Hans a visit at the stables.

* * *

When I arrived at the stables, I scanned the area for Hans, but was welcomed by one of the stable boys who immediately obliged to my request of saddling Sapphire. As the stable boy prepared my horse, I finally saw Hans right in the middle of training one of the new horses. Steward, the head horse-groomer, along with a couple other stable boys were supervising, keeping an eye on Hans and at the same time ready to run to his aid, was he to be thrown off the saddle. Hans was trotting around the paddock, soothing the horse and gaining its trust as it was its first time being mounted. I watched as he gently but firmly pulled back the reins, changing the horse's lively trot into a steady pace. It was then that I realized a tiny little detail… Hans was riding shirtless. It sounds weird since we're in November, but it's not yet as cold as someone would expect, not to mention that the paddock was right in the sun from dawn till sunset and Hans was training horses, also, since he didn't have a huge wardrobe, knowing him, he probably didn't want to sweat a clean shirt too much. I'll admit it, I tried my best to try not to think about it, but despite everything, Hans was very handsome. He had a lean, cut physique, broad shoulders and narrow hips. His biceps flexing as he held the reins firmly back, and then holding himself on the saddle as he leaned down to pat the horse's neck and saying something to soothe it. Then, the straightened back up and kicked the horse's sides as it immediately responded to his gallop request. Hans galloped around the paddock, his biceps and abs contracted as he held himself steady upon the horse. He turned the corner, showing his back to me; for the first time in a while I finally got a good look at his back. It had healed well, most of the new scars were gone only a few were left, a reminder of what the princes of the Southern Isles did to their unwanted brother.

"Queen Elsa" the stable boy called me, getting my attention as he brought out Sapphire "Your horse is ready, Milady" I thanked him and got upon Sapphire, making my way out of the stables, stopping a few feet away from the paddock. Just in time to see Hans, already on the ground and out of the encirclement, handing the horse's reins to Steward who gave him a bucket of water in exchange and a manly pat on the shoulder as did the other men around him or just complimented him. It was then that Hans did what Anna would define a ' _killer-move_ ' as he threw the bucket of water upon his head, washing off the sweat from his defined body, his skin glistening thanks to the sun rays hitting the drops of water. To put a cherry on top, he shook his head and nonchalantly ran his hands through his hair, smoothing it back, a refreshed look on his face. I decided it was best for me to call him in that moment, before risking to be caught staring, especially from the other staff members.

"Mr. Westerguard" I called as reached out to the paddock's fence to grab a clean dry cloth.

"Queen Elsa!" he exclaimed surprised as he saw me making my way towards him. The other stable boys watched. And saluted me respectfully before going back to their duties. Only Steward stayed to keep an eye out "I didn't think you'd come by, I would have made myself more presentable" Hans said, genuinely surprised to see me, but didn't dare to make a move to dry off, afraid it would make this awkward.

"No worries, it's pretty warm out here. It's understandable" I started, wondering how I even managed not to stuttered, seeing him up-close, shirtless, wet skin glistening in the sun thanks to the water-drops on his defined body, and hair, parted in the middle as always, with a few wet strands sticking to his face. Hans smiled slightly at me, amused. He noticed I was looking and was _very_ comfortable in talking to me shirtless like that, his only worry was towards those around us.

"Anyhow, when you're done drying yourself up and put a shirt back, go get a horse and come with me. I spoke with Princess Anna and I'd like to have a word with you" I said putting on my most serious face, hoping he'd understand it didn't actually mean that he was in trouble.

"Yes, Queen Elsa. Right away" he responded and I turned my horse around, walking away as he dried himself with the cloth. My inner voice started yelling at me to knock myself out of it when I realized I was actually appreciating and enjoying the sight… very much…okay-fine!- I found him extremely attractive! And with that being said, I'm not going back to that topic. Period.

* * *

 **And there you go! I hope this makes up for the long wait, at least a little bit. Next chapter will be mostly, if not all in Hans's POV and some more major Helsa. I know, Hans throwing water on himself and doing that hair flip was very Armani Ad. I know ;-)  
So... review for your thoughts? How was this? What did you think about Anna realizing that she's not ready for marriage? How will Kristoff react once they talk? Any ideas of what happened to make Skylynn's letter seem off to her best friend? More importantly, what do you think will happen during Hans and Elsa's walk?  
**

 **See you next chapter**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	29. The Lake

**Hans's POV:**

It didn't take me long to catch up with her on the horse, but we hadn't talked ever since. I knew that she didn't mean that I was in trouble, that was an excuse, but I knew that she wanted to talk and apparently as soon as I was beside her she decided against it. I kept silent waiting for her to speak up, but Elsa never did. She just kept glancing at me every now and then and visibly troubled. Then I broke the silence when it became rather useless and stupid.

"Okay. Elsa, we're pretty far from the castle, this silence is getting ridiculous. What's bothering you?" I asked genuinely concerned.

"What makes you think something is bothering me?" and there she was lifting that wall up again. Elsa was unpredictable. Whenever I thought she was going to talk to me about something serious regarding her, like when we do when we talk about books, she backs in right into her shell. Ignoring the fact that _she_ said she wanted to talk to me.

"You wanted to talk to me and now you're just staring off into space" I pointed out.

"Just thinking" she replied.

"About something that's bothering you" I added "I hate to point out the obvious but considering the latest events, I see no reason for you to keep your walls up if I ask you if you're okay" I said boldly. Elsa's eyes snapped back towards me, with her distant icy gaze that I grew accustomed to.

"Why such a sudden interest?"

"Elsa, come on. You said you wanted to talk to me and I know you well enough to know that if you just wanted to go for a silent walk with Sapphire you wouldn't have made up an excuse so you could be alone with me" I said, then I raised an eyebrow "Wait, are you trying to steal some alone time with me?" I teased with a smirk.

"Now you are pushing it" Elsa replied with an unamused look, but that playful glint in her eyes betrayed her severe stare.

"And now you are getting cranky" he answered, challenging her. Elsa looked away, hiding the smirk she was holding back.

"I'd watch my tongue if I were you, the dungeons and the shackles really miss you" she replied teasingly.

"Your new bestie, my sister Skylynn, wouldn't like that" I said nonchalantly.

"Well, who cares? I'm the queen" she countered looking afar, her head elegantly tilted up like true royalty.

" _My_ queen, not hers" I retorted smirking.

"But she's in _my_ home, in _my_ country" Elsa calmly said. My face fell, having not entirely considered that. Sky's power was limited here.

"Right, that is true" I said, letting her win this round, but the next second we glanced at each other and chuckled at our exchange. A small silence ruled between us. It was a peaceful moment right now, but for some reason it brought to my mind one of the latest letters I wrote my sister and I asked myself the same question again: what were we? For some reason I felt like sometimes Elsa was asking herself the same question, or rather was at war with herself. At war with her feelings towards me. One moment she opened up to me and the next she pulled her walls back up partly regretting of having done that. After everything I did to her and her sister, I didn't blame her, but Elsa is human and like me she can't deny that our relationship had changed. We understood one another, most of the time, and unlike earlier we were way more comfortable around each other.

If I think about it, I remember that once, during one of our dance classes, Elsa was having a lot trouble with a figure and at some point after trying it again with an awful result. The figure ended with her back facing my chest and her arms crossed in front of her with her right hand in my left and her left in my right. I couldn't hold back anymore and when she shyly looked back up at me to ask for my opinion my sole comment had been: "That was horrible". Elsa let out an exasperated laugh, feign cry, and threw her head back on my chest, leaning back on me as well, saying: "I'm sorry!" in laughter. I chuckled along with her and leaned my head on hers, giving her hand a small squeeze before stroking her arm as the laughter died down and we got back into the basic position. We seemed to have both forgotten. Only now that I think about it, I realize how genuine and affectionate those gestures actually were, those reactions had come naturally to the both of us and they were far from the reactions of two enemies… _Enemy_ … _villain…_ sometimes I wonder how many times she must have used those words to describe me. Sometimes I ask myself if she knows that I never actually thought about her as an enemy or a villain… when I did what I did, she was an obstacle, but never an enemy.  
I was going to ask her where we stood. I didn't want to pressure her into anything, maybe I was going to be pushy, and I needed to know where my boundaries were… and I hoped that Elsa would stop battling with herself over me. She had more important things to think about than an inmate.

"Elsa" I called her gently. She looked back at me, giving me her full attention "Can I ask you something? About you and me"

"Yes… sure" she asked looking at me inquisitively.

"What are we? Where do we stand?" I asked. Elsa looked away for a moment, probably taken off guard by my question, but at the same time probably thinking about what to answer and more importantly.

"Why do you ask?" she said, unsurely.

"I'm asking because I feel like neither of us know. Things have changed"

"Things have _not_ changed" she snapped defensively. There she was pulling her walls up again.

"Oh, really?" I said, looking at her challengingly "Tell me, _Elsa_ … would you have ever allowed me to call you by your first name and be so comfortable dancing with me if things hadn't changed one bit?" I added. Elsa huffed slightly, knowing I was right "Did I just silence the Queen of Ice and Snow?" I teased.

"Don't push it, Hans. Back to topic. Why did you ask?" she replied, glaring at me with that glint in her eyes betraying her.

"Exactly because of this. What you did just now. You seem to want to talk to me, like you did earlier, to open up. But a second later you doubt your decision" I started "I already told you that I'd trust you with anything. I know that feeling will probably never be the same, but you chose to share with me a couple of things about you, your sister is not aware of… and I know that you're not the one to open up about her fears to just anyone"

"You're right… I'm not" Elsa said.

"So…" I started "We're not secret lovers, even if we kind of sneak around as such" Elsa let out a small laugh "And I don't feel like we're enemies either, so… what are we? And don't say ' _acquaintances_ ' because -I swear- I'm turning this horse around and the only words you'll be getting from me will be ' _Yes, Ma'am_ ', ' _Good morning_ ' and ' _Good evening_ ' "I threatened with a smile. Elsa laughed softly.

"No" she said with a hin smile looking back at me "We're not enemies anymore… I guess that… things _have_ changed a little. After all… only my friends are allowed to call me Elsa" I looked back at her, fighting the grin that was threatening to appear to my face.

"Friends…" I mused "Well, _secret friends_ for obvious reasons" I corrected.

"Why did you have to bring that up? I was trying to be nice by not doing so!" Elsa complained

"Yeah, well. It's true" I replied. She rolled her eyes "Still…when I returned here I never thought I'd hear you say that"

"I never thought I would say it" Elsa replied "But some things just happen. I'm not going to assure you that I'll stop having these inner battles, whose cause you knew very well" she said sending me a look. I looked away ashamed "I can tell when you're lying, so far you haven't- at least with me- and who are we kidding, Hans? Despite everything, we get along" she paused looking away "We get along well…" her voice lower as she said that

"Very…" I added, my voice just above a whisper. An awkward silence passed between us, we looked at each other once more. I cleared my throat before the silence could get any more awkward and returned to the initial topic "Well! Now that we cleared that we're surprisingly _friends,_ care to tell me what did your sister say to make you so worried?"

"Oh, my God! I knew you were going to play that card! You're so persistent! How would you know it was my talk with Anna?" Elsa asked, slightly annoyed at me.

"For starters, the Princess seemed kind of off these days" he said "Then, you're annoyed because you can't relax by dancing, since you're not just doing it for Storm anymore, but you've also realized that you like it and it probably helps you distract yourself. You've been somewhere else with your head since you spoke with her and when it comes to your sister you go all Protective-Mama-Bear"

"I don't ' _go_ _ **Protective-Mama-Bear**_ ' when it comes to Anna!" she complained, her eyes wide, slightly offended.

"Yeah, tell that to Kristoff. I assure you that it was the only time I ever saw you make someone _sweat_ " I replied, casually petting my horse's neck.

"Since when are you and Kristoff 'buddies' ?" Elsa asked raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

"We're not, but since he saw that I'm actually _trying_ to make the right choices there's a mutual respect" I explained "But in all, the signs say that you're thinking about whatever the Princess told you"

"Ohh… the _signs_ …" Elsa said sarcastically "That's a very accurate reading, Hans" she replied. Silence ruled as I stared at her with an eyebrow raised in expectancy. Elsa huffed, rolling her eyes, frustrated.

"Okay, fine!" she gave in "Yes, it's about my sister. To keep it simple: Anna realized marriage means responsibilities she's not ready to take on and the problem is that she doesn't know how to tell Kristoff since she has already agreed on marrying him" she explained. Now I was confused.

"That is weird. I thought she loved Kristoff" I said. Elsa looked at me, clearly sensing my confusion.

"She does" Elsa said gently "Anna loves Kristoff, but she's 18 and marriage means parenthood and she's not ready for that, yet… problem is she realized it a little too late"

"Why does it give me the impression that you were expecting it?" I said, with a hint of irony. Considering the events, rushing into things before thinking seemed an Anna-thing to do, and the way Elsa said it made me think that she had probably already sensed where this was going.

"Because I know Anna and I know how hasty she can be" she replied, in fact "The reason I wanted Kristoff to postpone the wedding as much as possible, was not me being overprotective" I cast her a look "Okay, fine!- I mean- _yes_ , it was a bit, but that was not entirely the case. The problem is, now that Anna said yes to the wedding, how is she supposed to tell Kristoff that she's not ready for starting their own family?" she told me. A terrible thought crossed my mind.

"Elsa, please tell me you gave her an answer immediately" I said almost desperately, closing my eyes afraid of the answer.

"Who did you take me for? I learn from my mistakes. Of course I gave her advice immediately" she replied, slightly annoyed. I relaxed "But I'm still worried and I'm not even that sure _why_ " she added "I gave her my advice and told her what I think is the right thing to do: talk with Kristoff, be honest about it and work things out together. That _and_ shared my thoughts: if he understands and waits then Kristoff's the right guy, if he doesn't than he isn't… I really hope Kristoff understands…"

"That couldn't have been more spot on" I replied coming to a halt, with a tiny smile on my face.

"What's that smile?" she asked, curiously stopping Sapphire.

"Nothing, just… it just reminded me of my reaction when Sky told me she and Landon were engaged" I confessed.

"And what was that?"

"Let's just say that when they asked for my blessing, if I had ice powers, I would have probably done much worse than casting an eternal winter on Drakora, and my sister and her husband had known each other for a year in close-to-death situations" I replied with a chuckle. She looked at me surprised.

"Why such a scene?" she asked with a hint of amusement.

"Same reason why you probably wanted to delay your sister's wedding. First thing my mind told me had been: _'Uh-Uh. Big mistake. Too young'_ , but by refusing to bless their marriage, I just threw another obstacle to strengthen their bond and in the end I realized that I was in the wrong and blessed their marriage"

"Well, she was sixteen, you kind of had a point" she tried to comfort.

"She's my baby sister. Sky could have been forty and I still would have bugged her about it. Not like I did in Drakora, but I would have probably tried to find any possible stupid reason to tell her not to go through with it. It's the Protective-Big-Brother instinct" I said lightly chuckling at myself "Wouldn't you do the same with Princess Anna?" By the look on her face, I could see Elsa was about to deny, but then realized it would have been a lie "Thought so" I smirked "You did the right thing and…" I hesitated shyly for a moment, before being bold enough to continue with my statement "I know it probably doesn't matter to you much, but… I'm happy that you didn't try to avoid the situation and didn't run away from your sister. You're finally getting more self-confident" I said smiling genuinely at her.

"Thank you" she said. There was a small silence between us. A small silence that I used well to take a good look at her features, remembering the faint blush on her cheeks when she saw me shirtless. I admit that I was kind of enjoying the moment, I never thought I'd see Elsa blush like a teenager over a shirtless guy, especially when that guy was me. It was adorable. Still what captivated me the most about her were her eyes. They were the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. Sure, my sister and her mom shared a rare silver gray eye color, but Elsa's blue eyes were still amazing. They were crystal blue and clear, almost liquid… simply beautiful… yet, it felt like they didn't live up to her. They say the eyes are window to one's soul, but no matter how beautiful they were, they were too simple, too peaceful for her complicated soul.

Elsa glanced slightly at me. A few months ago, I would have averted my gaze immediately, but in that moment I just replied to her gaze with a soft smile. It was Elsa who looked away, instead, hiding the small smile that had appeared on her face.

"Well, here we are" Elsa said, knocking me out of my trance. I looked around at my surroundings and realized that Elsa had led us to one of Arendelle's minor lakes. The view was breathtaking, the white mountains in the background, the clear water still and reflecting the sky, barely dirtied with a few clouds, the lake still like oil. A few small trees surrounded the lake, their leaves orange and yellow, but still with a few spots of green here and there showing how they were not yet ready to fall but were waiting for a windy day to take them away.

"It's beautiful" I said, staring in awe at the sight.

"I like to come here when I need to relax or I need to be alone. I found this place a week after the Eternal Winter, while I was on a walk and unlike what you'd think, I haven't frozen it over to ice-skate yet" she told me as I hopped off my horse and tied him to the tree, before going back to Elsa and help her down Sapphire.

"I assure you it never crossed my mind" I replied, setting her down "I imagine it has something to do with the fact that everyone expects you to freeze everything and make your own ice skating rinks"

"Maybe, but it's not just that" she said walking to sit under the tree's shadow as I tied her horse to it. Elsa remained silent for a few seconds and looked back at me as I had remained standing up next to the tree. Her face kept that faint reassuring smile and she patted the spot on the grass beside her. I obliged and took my place beside her as she took a moment more before continuing. "Trust me, freezing over the lake and distract myself with some ice-skating is tempting but… it's not the same when doing it with someone else. As I just said, I come here when I need to relax or simply be alone. Sometimes there are moments when you need to just take a break from everyone and everything, including family. Everyone has their own special place they would like to share with someone sooner or later, this is mine. You already know my story and you told me yours, I suppose I don't need to tell you why it took me so long to share it with someone" she said, her eyes fixed on the water.

"No, you don't" I replied. She really didn't. Sometimes you need to get away from everyone, including your family since they are the ones you will never really be alone from. Anna was her sister, Olaf, the snowman, had been created by Elsa, Sven is a reindeer and Kristoff will one day be her brother-in-law, even though they deeply care for one another, they don't count. Elsa's first real friend was Skylynn, but even so, as soon as I'm done with my punishment, Sky will leave and they will probably see each other twice in a year if everything's fine. Then a small thought crossed my mind, making my lips involuntarily twitch up in a smile. Elsa noticed but before she could say anything to try to hide what this actually meant, I took her hands in mine and pulled her up.

"What are you doing?" she asked, but stood up anyway.

"Well, since you said you never got to ice skate here, how about we do the honors?" I suggested. Elsa's eyes lit up, in surprise.

"You know how to ice-skate?" she asked.

"No. I never set foot on an ice-skating rink before" I replied truthfully "But I was hoping you could teach me" Elsa's small frown turned into a smile. She didn't utter a word, but walked closer to the water before slightly raising her gown and tapping the water's surface with her foot. Ice spread on quickly from that tap, running over the lake's surface freezing it smoothly. Elsa then moved her hands in a circling motion and strands of magical ice went under her shoes, forming the skating blades. Then she did the same towards me and I immediately felt myself slightly raise from the ground as the skating blade formed beneath my feet. At first I felt myself already fall down, but managed to keep my balance. Elsa was already on the ice, waiting for me.

"Come on, Hans" she called "Step on the ice, then come to me one foot at a time" I did as she told me to and set my foot on the ice. Needless to say that once I put the other on it and tried to take my first step, I slipped and almost fell. I heard Elsa snicker at me as I tried to maintain my balance with my upper body half bent down, my arms spread out, my butt out and my knees slightly apart like I were sitting on some sort of invisible throne, not daring to move a muscled.

"Uhm… Elsa, a little help?" I pleaded. She gracefully glided towards me.

"You're way too tense, Hans… and that is clearly not an ice-skating position" she said pointing at me.

"You think?" I replied sarcastically.

"Here, hold my hands" she replied smiling and holding her hands out for me. I realized that she was not wearing her gloves. With my smile and hesitation, Elsa smiled back shyly realizing I had noticed. I took her small hands in mine, holding onto her as Elsa helped me hold myself up as she guided me back to the right skating position; back up straight, arms in and knees slightly apart. Then holding my hands, she slowly glided backwards telling me to mimic her motions. I almost fell a couple of times, but managed to get my footing back. Then Elsa let go of one of my hands and started gliding beside me, holding the other. It was fun, even if I was literally gripping onto Elsa's hand for dear life. She tried to let go of me a couple of times but as soon as she did I was about to fall and grabbed her hands for support. She tried not to, but my terrified face every time I lost my balance made a small laugh escape her lips and made me laugh at myself. I'll admit it, I was ridiculous. I was a prince, an admiral, I was trained into sword fighting and commanding fleets, and here I was terrified of falling on ice.

"Someone's getting the hang of it" Elsa said with a smile "Now try to go on your own"

"You sure it's not too soon?" I tried to stall.

"Don't worry. The worst that could happen to you would be falling like a sack of potatoes"

"Exactly what I'm trying to avoid" I said.

"Catch me if you can!" she said and let go of me, gliding away, but looking back at me. At first I felt like I was going to fall, but kept my footing and balance and started to glide towards her. Unlike Elsa, who was sliding elegantly and gracefully over the ice, playfully taunting me to catch her as she executed a few perfect pivots, I looked and moved like a bear, a very clumsy bear. Still, I chased after Elsa who looked amused at me, effortlessly moving upon the ice. At some point, Elsa pivoted and started skating backwards, holding her hands out for me, purposely slowing down so that I could catch up. I skated a little faster and held my hands out to hers, but as I was about to grab her hands, Elsa skated away.

"Too slow!" she smirked.

"Hey!" I complained "No fa-! WOAH!" It was then that I lost my balance. I tried my best, but the result had been me with my legs going up skating on the spot before flying up and crashed my butt on the ice, remaining there still in 4 of clubs position… I'm pretty sure I left my behind's mark on the ice after that fall. I heard Elsa's laughter coming closer as she skated to me.

"Ow…" I complained closing my eyes and putting an arm over my face.

"I wish I had something to play that fall over and over again" she said giggling.

"Wow. Nice going, Teacher! Making fun of your student like that" I complained before throwing my arm over my face again.

"Oh, don't act like you never bluntly told me I was horrible when I messed up a figure" she reminded me "Or when you said my leg work was worse than jelly"

"Hm. Point taken" I replied, lifting my arm off my face and chuckling along "Alright, I'm getting up… hopefully" I said and sat up.

"Come on, I'll help you up" Elsa said offering me her hands.

"You're not tricking me again, are you?" I replied, a second before taking her hands.

"Oh, well, you snooze you lose" and she skated away.

"What the-? Elsa, come on!" I complained "You can't just offer help and the second I rightfully doubt you, you skate away"

"Too bad. Next time: carpe diem!" she teased. I glared playfully at her, she just smirked back at me "Come on, Hans. It's all about balance, you were getting the hang of it. Come catch me" Motivating, yes, but I knew that I was not going to catch her anytime soon, so I did what apparently I was famous for: tricking. I tried to get up and promptly slipped and fell back on my butt whenever I tried to stand back up. Elsa was looking at me calculatingly, not sure if I was doing it on purpose to trick her or if I was actually that incapable of ice-skating. When I pulled myself in a kneeled position, I stopped right there.

"Uhm… Elsa? This is as far as I can get… help me, please?" I asked giving her the sad puppy dog eyes. Elsa shook her head with an amused smile and skated my way.

"Come on, I'll help you up. No tricks, I promise" she said and held out her hand. I took it and as she took my arm to help me up, I took hers and pulled her down, while I gave myself a boost to stand up. Elsa fell on the ice as I skated away.

"Hey! That's cheating!" she complained with a laugh, sitting back up.

"That's karma!" I replied and slipped again as I put my foot wrong, finding myself once again in the 4 of clubs position.

" _That's_ karma" she replied skating back to me and offering me her hand, this time I took it without complaint and she helped me up for real. We skated some more for a while, until we decided to take a break and walked off the frozen lake. Elsa then thawed the ice-blades from her shoes and my boots and proceeded with thawing the lake. I just laid down on the grass holding my weight up on my elbow, and watched her as she moved her hands with grace and elegance, thawing the ice that slowly formed a snowflake above it before dissipating into the air with a cool breeze.

* * *

 **Elsa's POV:**

I knew Hans was looking at me. I felt his gaze on me while I thawed the lake, but I didn't say anything. I turned around and walked to sit beside him on the grass. I didn't know why of all people I brought _him_ in my special place. I could have brought Sky, she was my best friend, but for some reason I brought him first. Hans's gaze towards me was different this time, he never looked at me like that. I couldn't quite tell what it was, but he was staring at me differently. Those emerald eyes, one filled with rage and anger, were now calm and observant… the perfect mask to his complex and tormented soul… a soul that reminded me so many times of my own.

Maybe one of the reasons why I brought him here was because I wanted to talk to him about what happened with Anna and about Sky's last letter as this was the only place I knew we wouldn't be interrupted. I knew war was coming to Arendelle. Skylynn would have only come back to confirm it and tell me the details in person to discuss the defense strategy. Right now though, I wanted to forget about that and live the moment.  
Hans glanced away from me as I sat down, moving his gaze on the strand of grass he was playing with. We remained silent, but it was not awkward at all, it was comfortable. It felt nice, just being there me and him, Hans and I, relaxing after castle and queen duty, without worrying about being watched. When that last part came to my mind, a wave of what felt like sadness came over me. It was in moments like these that I thought about how things would have been if we had both acted differently.

I had run away from everyone and everything when I saw myself inside a labyrinth with no way out. My whole life I felt like I was in a labyrinth but when I was a child I thought there was an escape, but as time passed, I thought the only escape was adapt and stop looking for one. For years I had felt like a guest in my own home and the most painful part was that I felt my parents' love, but I also felt their fear the same way I felt Anna's love, but felt my own fear of hurting her again. For years I had to be dust, I was there, everyone knew I was there, but I was not to be seen. I learned how to find my way in darkness, many times falling into the doubt and wondering if on the other side of that door there was actually someone there for me, who cared for me. Then Anna's knock came and the pain became even worse, wanting more than anything to run out and hold her but knowing better. I learned to be lonely… I learned to be my one companion. I realized that my heart was meant to be on its own. I won't say I learned how to 'love' it, but I learned how to appreciate a life that was lived alone.

Then the Eternal Winter and so many doors were opened to me, crashing down my previous knowledge and opening me this new world. Then the trial and Sky's arrival. I will never probably say it to her face, but Sky has had a huge impact in my life, not just because she's my first real friend, an older sister, but because even with that annoying cocky attitude mask, she's becoming the mentor I never really had. Then Storm, the first man who actually seems genuinely interested in me as more than a friend, the first man to have ever given me that kind of attention… yet, the one who had the biggest impact in my life had been the man behind the beast who wanted to end it. I had stopped hoping that there would be someone ready to come to my rescue were I to fall because of a mistake, I was going to save myself. Hans, the real one, was the one who reminded me to smile at my past mistakes, because I was not going to repeat them… and he did the same thing.

I knew I was still wary of him for many aspects, what he did cannot be forgotten overnight and it wasn't something that didn't make me doubt his intentions most of the time. I thought there was no best to bring out in him, because someone willing to kill innocents does not have a heart, yet he proved me wrong many times, surprising me each moment, adding a different light to him. The most shocking moment had been when he _apologized_ because we were similar.

"Elsa" Hans called softly, his emerald eyes gazing into mine "Why did you bring _me_ here?" he asked

"Honestly?… I don't know" I replied "Maybe it wasn't even my initial intention… I just did We were talking and then I realized I was taking you here and I just went with it. Actually, when I finished my priority duties for the day, my first thought was looking and the time and when I realized you'd still be at the stables I went looking for you. I… I wanted to see you" Hans raised an eyebrow surprised and sat straight up beside me.

"You _wanted_ to see me? Just like that? Out of the blue?" he replied with an amused and curious smirk. I felt my cheeks blush.

"Yeah… well, sort of. I kind of actually wanted… or rather _needed_ a very direct person to reassure me I did the right thing or yell at me that I had to stop being a scared parent and step up"

"And you did well" he replied "Plus, telling your sister what she wants to hear won't do her any good, you said that yourself. Lying to her would be wrong, _lying_ is wrong" he added.

"Yeah, let's pretend you haven't said that last part" I told him, giving him a look. He was about to reply, but was struck by realization.

"Point taken" he said and I couldn't help but feel a tiny smile form on my lips, then I looked at him and in that moment, he looked back to me, and turned back around lowering his head in slight embarrassment, as I lightly giggled only to be followed by him a second later.

"Anyway, you were saying? You needed me to yell at you to step up…" he continued

"…But no need for that this time because my inner voice already did the yelling part" I told him. Hans chuckled on the last part.

"When have I ever yelled-? Oh, you're talking about Sky" he realized.

"But since she's not here, I went with my second best option" I replied with a smirk.

"Oh, wow. That hurt. Wait- when did Sky yell at you?" he replied inquisitively.

"She hasn't yet, but she's always gotten up to my face and brutally point out the facts in that fashionable way you Westerguard black sheep share" I said smirking.

"Funny being called that by the Lindström black sheep" he replied. I snickered at first, but then I realized.

"Wait- I never told you my last name" I pointed out.

"Come on, Elsa, you know me! Would I really come to Arendelle with the intention I had without doing my research first?" he pointed out. He did kind of had a point.

"Right… No, you wouldn't" I replied "By the way, Hans, the council was ecstatic about the sketches. I've given word to start with the works right away" Hans's eyes lit up

"Really?" he asked excitedly "Did they ask anything about the architect?"

"Yes, and as we agreed, you're an anonymous young architect who shall give a great contribution to Arendelle" I replied "The councilmen were a bit grumpy, but were happy enough when I told them I was going to revel the architect's name shall serious matters require it, or when he will want to reveal his identity"

"Great. I'm happy I could be of help" he said, with a hint of pride in his voice "We're a good team" he added softly, looking at me.

"They're your projects"

"You had the idea to solve the problem. I gave you the basic material to do it"

"You give yourself too little credit. But yes… we do make a good team" I replied looking back at him. Hans smiled but remained quiet for a moment, before speaking up again.

"Elsa, may I ask you something?" he started. I gave him a small nod, meaning to carry on "You said you come here when you need to think… have you ever thought how things would be had they gone differently?" his gaze was serious, but gentle. It was a touchy subject for the both of us and I felt my smile fade away.

"How differently?" I asked, looking towards the lake.

"Had I been myself and had I pursued the obvious but hard way instead?" Here we were, once again, our minds going back on the 'what ifs'. We were bound to have this conversation. I glanced back at him, looking into his eyes. They were pained, but he was trying to hide it. He knew we were bound to have this talk, what would you expect from two people who thought were so different but at the same time realize they are so alike, like two faces of the same medal? We were similar in so many things: hiding our hearts behind a mask and a door, transforming the sound of our anger into pain and desperation. That was it really was: anger. I was angry at myself, because how was I supposed to control a kingdom when I wasn't even capable of controlling myself? Anger because no matter how hard I tried to repress my feelings they always got the best of me, then I heard Anna's knock on my door and that anger turned into pain because I had no one to blame but myself for the mess I was in, because I had hurt Anna. Same went for Hans because of his family's neglect and abuse. He was angry and turned that anger into desperation for love and to prove he was more than what his brothers made him. It led us both to our mistakes. For a long time we had been free yet prisoners inside of the same cage.

"I don't know, Hans… I'm not too sure, either" I replied and got up, crossing my arms below my chest as I walked to the lake's shore.

* * *

 **Hans's POV:**

For a moment I thought that Elsa was going to blow me off again, but that wasn't her ' _I-don't-want-to-talk_ ' look. Thus, I got up and walked beside her to the lake's shore. I didn't say anything, but kept my gaze on her as she looked to the water, thinking over what to say. I knew I was almost literally walking on thin ice here, but the question had been bugging me ever since the champagne episode. How would have things gone hadn't I not fallen against my brothers' abuse? Things had changed a lot between Elsa and I and it made me wonder.

"I know for sure that we wouldn't have to sneak around for things as innocent as a waltz lesson" Elsa started "You certainly wouldn't be in the situation you are in… maybe I would still be shut in"

"Or maybe we could have solved that" I said "Together" Elsa looked to her feet, knowing what I was going to ask next "Elsa, if I had tried… would've I had a chance?" I asked her, subconsciously taking a step closer to her. Elsa didn't move. I had to ask her and this time I was hoping for an answer.

"This is where I'm not too sure, Hans" she said turning towards me "The real question here is: would you have been someone else or the man standing in front of me, _you_?" she replied. Her response blew me away. I never thought about that. Elsa always managed to catch me off guard. She was unpredictable. Apparently the question was simple, but truth was: was the man standing in front of her actually me? Because if I look back to who I was when I was in the Isles, I see a completely different person. My stay here in Arendelle had changed me… Elsa had changed me… and I don't know how to feel about this, or rather, how I felt about her. I've had other women before, but Elsa nothing like them, she was something else and I had come to really care for her.

"You have no idea how badly I want to tell you that you would have dealt with the person I am now" I started carefully "But the truth is that with how my mind was set at the time, I would have probably tried to be someone else"

"Another mask… another lie" she stated. It stung and hard. It really did "But I can't blame it all on you, because I probably wouldn't have been as I am now" There was another moment of silence in which Elsa's eyes broke away from my gaze and lowered hers. Her eyes met my golden drop shaped necklace, clearly visible on my chest due to the wide V-neck of the shirt. Elsa uncrossed her arms as she raised a hand toward my necklace, her delicate warm touch sending shivers down my spine as she ran her finger over the pendant's single silver spot. I didn't dare to speak as words died in my mouth. I just looked at her, feeling her fingers brush my chest.

"I'm still surprised that… you're actually so comfortable around me" I said softly. Elsa's eyes remained fixed on the silver spot on the necklace.

"I am most of the time… and I know I shouldn't" she replied, with a small frown, scolding herself.

"I don't blame you. I've given you every reason not to trust me. Stop being so hard on yourself" I replied.

"That's not the thing, Hans. What bothers me to no end is the fact that you have also given me plenty of reasons to do so… because as of now, when I look at you I see this white spot" Elsa said, pointing on the silver dot that traditionally stands for the good that is still in someone evil "I see a good man… a man whose trying to be his best self"

"I've changed, Elsa" I replied "And I owe most of this to you"

"People don't change, Hans… they can only bring out their best. You owe me nothing in your ' _change_ ', it was already in you… in here" Elsa replied, placing her palm on my heart "And I know this is no mask, because you've stopped talking to me through masks long ago" there was a moment of silence "I like spending time with you" she confessed.

"I like spending time with you, too" I said, covering her hand with mine. The situation was ironic. When I first came to Arendelle I would have said that to woo her and get the crown. Now the crown was nowhere near my mind, now my only goal was not to let her down. She saw someone good and I was not going to disappoint her ever again. Now I said those words because I meant them, I loved being with her.

For a few moments we didn't utter a single word, we were probably supposed to return shortly, but we both wanted to enjoy the moment. At some point, I lifted my hand up to tuck a strand of loose hair behind Elsa's ear. She didn't say anything, but it was then that we actually realized our closeness, when my hand lingered there. Our eyes locked as we glanced at each other. I recognized that look, it was the same look she had in her eyes when I thought about kissing her after our waltz. I should have dropped my hand then and there, but instead I let it cup the side of her neck, my thumb delicately caressing her cheek. My heart was racing fast, faster than it ever did and was beating so hard I knew Elsa was feeling it under her palm, and the more I stared into her beautiful eyes, the more I wanted to kiss her… at least once. Elsa's gaze didn't move from mine and I leaned in, slowly. I wanted to give her the time to reject me if she didn't want this, but instead of pulling away, she slightly tilted her head towards me and closed her eyes as I did. We were getting closer and closer, our noses lightly brushed against each other and I could feel her soft breath on my lips, I just had to close the gap between us.

Suddenly I realized that if I did kiss her I was going to do so much more damage that I already had. I couldn't do this to her. I couldn't put her in the position of choosing between me and her sister. Things were already as complicated as they were, I couldn't make them harder for her. If that kiss happened, we were going to compromise everything. Things have changed between us, but I can't just forget what I did her and her sister, because it is exactly what makes what we have wrong on many levels. I said I was going to do anything I could to help her and it was precisely why we had to stop.  
It was then, that instead of closing the gap between us, at the last moment I lightly pulled away, at the same time feeling her hand on my chest gently pushing me away. We opened our eyes and looked at one another, regretting it and surprised by the mutual rejection.

"We can't do this, Hans" Elsa said, unable to meet my gaze.

"I know… I'm sorry, your Majesty" I said, addressing her title "I want to kiss you… but I can't do this to you. You are my queen and I'm an inmate accused of high treason. I can't have you risk scandal and compromise everything you're working so hard for. Mostly, I can't be the cause of a rift between you and the Princess, I won't be, especially after what I tried to do… I'm sorry" Elsa remained quiet for a moment, but then her eyes met mine.

"Thank you" she said, her eyes were pained, just like mine, but grateful for she had stopped me herself because of the exact same reason. Then, just like that, we stepped away from each other and decided it was best if we headed back. The ride back was silent, the tension thick in the air, none of us uttered a word or dared to look at the other. When we arrived to the stables, we were alone. I did what I had to do and went to help her off the horse as soon as I had lead mine back into its box. Leaving to take the gear off Sapphire just like that didn't feel right. Elsa too, lingered there a moment longer as if waiting for me to say something and I did.

"Elsa" I started "If there is anything I can do for you, to help you, anything at all, please don't hesitate to tell me" Elsa didn't say anything, she smiled gently at me and lifted her hand, caressing my cheek gazing into my eyes. I leaned into her touch as she let her hand linger on my face a moment longer, then her hand slipped away from my face and without a word she left.  
I returned to my duties immediately as I felt my heart cracking and wiped away from my face that single tear that fell down. I felt miserable, but I knew that cutting off things before they even started was the right thing to do, because sometimes, when you deeply care for someone, you have to let them go.

* * *

 **I know everybody is going to hate me now, but hey! What did you expect? Plus, Elsa's in a courtship, she's not the cheating type, not to mention that she's well aware of how dangerous a secret relationship with Hans can be. Poor Hans thought :'(**

 **So? Review for your thoughts! How did you like this chapter? I hope it wasn't too boring, but I hope it was long enough to make up for the long wait!  
I had to post something, and I didn't re-read it because it's 3a.m. here so... Cut me some slack, I need sleep! :-)  
Unless I get all the reviews saying: "Girl, this chapter was written with your feet! Spellcheck and correct it", or unless it's plain horrible, I'll re-upload it corrected.**

 **With that being said, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Let me know what you think int he reviews and have a nice week-end!  
Thank you for reading and reviewing!  
See you next chapter**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	30. Getting Ready To Act

**Hans's POV:**

When our dance lesson ended, this time in the early morning, Elsa thanked me for everything but said that she was going to be fine from now on. I didn't pressure her on her decision, not just for the obvious reasons, but also because we did not need to add more awkwardness after our almost kiss. The translation to her words was: _'_ _We are getting too close, it's best if we put some distance'_ , but she was being polite about it for my same reason of not pressing the matter. Things didn't get too awkward afterwards, Elsa behaved just like she used to before that incident happened, acting polite and reserved. This reticence though was different this time. Before she was being distant because she was wary of me and was on her guard, ready to strike was I to make a false step. This time she was holding her emotional walls up again to protect herself, now more than ever.

We should have been more careful. That attraction was going to be just that: an attraction. I am lonely and she's the only one who has always treated me with respect. She has Storm but I've been there when he wasn't, it was obvious for that to happen when two people feel alone. Let's not forget that the only reason we started spending so much time together was because Elsa needed me to teach her how to dance for Storm, so that she could surprise _him_.  
Putting some space between us was probably for the best. I don't want to ruin everything she's worked hard for.

Nevertheless, it hasn't even been a day, but yesterday evening and this morning felt like weeks. The awkwardness between Elsa and I was as visible as a mountain, especially since today, was one of those days where we would meet almost every time she entered a room I was working in or we walked out of the door to go to a different room. It was useless to try to think positive: that attraction had ruined our friendship, a friendship that shouldn't even exist to begin with. Today, when we found ourselves in the same room, usually I would start up a small conversation while we both worked and glance towards each other with a small smile whenever we played that small game of who got the last word in playful bickering. This time I noticed we would occasionally glance at one another, but we would immediately look away whenever we caught or were caught looking at the other.

I was used to this, to being ignored or being shut out, but when Elsa did it, it bothered me so much more than I thought it would. I had opened up to her, like she had opened up to me, but there were still so many things I would have wanted her to know and I wanted to learn about her, but now her walls were up again and I was not sure if I was ever going to be able to break through them.  
I wondered if me pretending to be so busy doing something else and Elsa avoiding me was hurting her as much as it hurt me, but I repressed that thought immediately. I was just giving myself false hopes. _This_ was not to be. Besides, when have I ever been this needy?! Never! It's not even been a full day and yet I was already moping around because… because… because I missed her.

"I beg your pardon?!" my train of thoughts was interrupted when I heard Elsa's unmistakable voice coming from around the corner from where I was polishing the armors.

"You heard me!" I heard Kristoff reply, with a rather angry voice.

"Kristoff, did too much time cutting ice give you a brain-freeze?" she replied sassily.

"Despite what you think, _your Majesty_ , I am not an idiot!" Kristoff said. I silently walked around the corner to see what was going on.

"Accusing me of having made Anna change her mind about the wedding only confirms my theory" Elsa said with a tiny smirk on her face

"Well, then how do I explain her coming to me and telling me she's not ready for marriage after she's been so pumped about it ever since I proposed?" I watched as Elsa's face morphed from amused to serious as she crossed her arms and took a step towards him.

"Kristoff, tell me you're joking right now, because I swear this time I'm _really_ getting mad" she said staring up at him.

"I'm not joking, Elsa! You were the one who didn't want us to marry as soon as we wanted to, you are the one who insisted on delaying. Anna said yes, why do you have to interfere?"

"Would you rather have Anna tell you she isn't ready for the commitment _after_ you were married?" Elsa replied.

"She _was_ ready, up until a few days ago" he insisted glaring at her.

"If getting married right now is so vital to you then why didn't you back out on her?" Elsa challenged.

"Because I'm in love with her and I know Anna is the one for me?" he said with angry sarcasm. I knew Elsa could hold her own, but even if I knew Kristoff would never harm her, I didn't like what I was seeing. I fought with my instinct in order to keep back and not interfere in their family matters. "I don't understand, Elsa! You say I'm part of the family, then why are you trying to push me away from Anna?"

"I'm not pushing you away! I gave you my blessing! The only thing I asked for was a long engagement because I know my sister and I know she can rush into things. The seven months aren't up, Kristoff! Anna did everything on her own. It's called growing up"

"Or brainwashing" he stated angrily

"I understand that you're upset she called off the wedding, but you can't take it out on me" she said.

"I'm not taking it out on you 'just because'- I'm taking it out on you, because I know you're behind it!" Kristoff insisted "I can't believe you were capable of doing this to me, to _Anna_! You can't protect her forever, Elsa! Anna can make her own decisions, she doesn't need your input for everything! I understand that you feel lonely, but just because you're afraid you'll never find someone, doesn't mean you have to be so possessive!" There was a pregnant silence, Kristoff was crossing a line and Elsa was giving him one last chance to back down. I felt my blood boil and my hands curl into fists. Another word and I was not sure I could stand back.

"Now you apologize to me" she said in a low stern voice, her blue eyes glaring daggers at Kristoff. He didn't back down, but he too had realized what he had said, but was too prideful to actually apologize. He knew that if he apologized it would have been acknowledging his mistake, but if he didn't he could have done a much bigger damage.

"Hey! Just the two I was looking for!" Anna's voice suddenly came through the hall as Anna jogged to her sister and fiancé, then, she noticed the tension between them, when all she was welcomed with was a small side glance from Elsa "Uhm… what's going on?" she asked.

"Nothing" Kristoff dismissed and started to walk away "I'll see you later, Anna. I have to fix the sleigh"

"Oh, no you don't!" Elsa said swiftly placing an arm on his chest and pushing him back in front of her "You're not running away from this. Have the courage to repeat what you just said to me in front of your fiancée"

"I'm not playing this game. I have nothing more to say to you" Kristoff said.

"Tell me what, Kristoff? What did you say to her?" Anna demanded, knowing right away that whatever argument they were at right now, this was serious.

"And here we go! You don't even know what we're talking about and you're already siding with your big sister" he said sarcastically.

"Whoa!-Wait- I'm not siding with anyone, yet! I just asked what happened" Anna said defensively as her eyes widen and shared an incredulous look with Elsa.

"I know that voice and that manner of asking, you already assumed _I_ did something to Elsa" Kristoff said crossing his arms.

"Well, I'm sorry if I know my sister is not one to pick a random fight and your collection of freezing threats is due to _you_ bugging _her_ … and considering the welcoming, I guess it's about me" Anna said. I stifled a laugh. Yup, the princess knew them well. Kristoff huffed.

"Anna, it's probably best if you stay out of it. I really don't want to fight with you. This is between Elsa and I, it's not about you" Elsa scoffed in disbelief.

"Wow!" she exclaimed "She's your fiancée and you just lied straight up to her face!"

"I didn't lie! This isn't about Anna!" he responded.

"I think it _is_ about Anna since you're taking out on me your being mad about her calling off the wedding!" Elsa responded.

"Okay! Stop talking like I'm not standing right here!" Anna said as Kristoff froze, almost literally. Elsa was not letting him out of this one "Kristoff, I don't' understand. You said you were going to wait for me for as much as I needed. You said you were okay with it" Anna said.

"And I meant it" Kristoff said to her "I'm okay with this long engagement because I love you and you're worth the wait" then he turned to glare daggers at Elsa "What I'm not okay with is your sister meddling with our relationship"

"Wait-what?!" Anna said in disbelief.

"There you have it" Elsa said.

"Anna, you were so pumped about the wedding! I heard what you said, but I know you! How am I supposed to believe that all of a sudden you're not ready after almost three months of engagement? We were making plans and couldn't wait till the seven months deadline. Then you speak with Elsa and the day after you call off the wedding, sounds suspicious to me" he said. Anna looked at him disbelieving.

"You didn't listen to me then" Anna said "I didn't grow up with the need of becoming older sooner! I need time to figure myself out and what is my place here in Arendelle. I'm not ready to be a wife or a mother at 18!"

"You were when I proposed" Kristoff insisted "And the day before yesterday" he added.

"It's called growing up, Bjorman" Elsa said "Perhaps you should ty it"

"Oh stop acting like you're the village elder when you're exactly my age!" Kristoff replied "You call it 'growing up', I call it 'manipulation'. I'm beginning to think that dragging Anna into this is the next move to break us up. Is that it?"

"What?!" Elsa exclaimed.

"Kristoff!" Anna scolded, disbelieving.

"Okay, that's enough!" I thundered, unable to keep back more and walking up to them "Kristoff, this is plain stupid! You're making a fuss out of nothing!"

"Stay out of it, Hans! It's none of your business!" Kristoff snapped at me, as Elsa looked at me surprised to see me and Anna glared at me.

"It kind of _is_ my business if I hear the Ice Master accusing the _Queen_ of manipulation, from around the corner of where I'm working!" I responded "I get that you're upset, but I thought you knew better, Kristoff! I thought you knew _Princess Anna_ better"

"You know what-" Anna halted abruptly whatever insult she was going to throw at me, realizing that I was actually standing up for her and her sister "Wait- what?" she exclaimed sharing a look with her sister.

"Hans-" the queen tried.

"Elsa, I got this" I replied and froze when I realized how I had just addressed her. Elsa casted an alarmed look on me. Anna noticed my slip up immediately and didn't miss the beat to highlight it.

"Since when does _he_ get to call you by your first name?" Anna said immediately, glancing at her sister. Kristoff's eyes darted back and forth between us.

"It slipped, I apologize, your Grace" I said immediately bowing my head to Elsa, she just replied with a dismissive wave of the hand, as I turned back to Kristoff. "Why must you think that if the Princess does something uncommon for her, it must come from Queen Elsa?" I asked him trying to reason with him and bringing back the focus on him.

"Because I know them both!" Kristoff responded "And Elsa is the one who wanted at least two years of engagement, why else would Anna-"

"-Okay, I think the whole castle got that, by now. You're upset she called off the wedding, I get it: it sucks and so does being left on the altar, so be grateful she came to her senses sooner-"

"-You were left on the altar?" Anna asked as soon as I said that.

"Yes, three years ago" I responded quickly, glancing at Elsa, my eyes meeting her inquisitive look, but she didn't say a word.

"Oh… ouch…" Kristoff quietly commented.

"Exactly. I didn't do all this fuss and she left me because of Princess Anna's same reason, only that in my case, I also wasn't the one for her" I added. I paused seeing Kristoff letting my words sink in "You're upset, but you're taking it out on the wrong person, besides, if Queen Elsa wanted to separate you, she probably would have done it already, without blessing the marriage first. And 'brainwashing'? Seriously?" I said. He looked down to his toes, before Anna's voice got his attention

"Kristoff, why in the world would you think I would tell you something like that because _Elsa_ told me?" she asked.

"I can answer that for you, your Highness" I said trying to get most the pressure off of him "Because he knows your sister is a role model for you and how important her opinion is to you… but he should also know how much our queen values your happiness, Princess. He should know that Queen Elsa would never do any of the things he insinuated" I said looking at both of them before turning back to Kristoff "But if you really think that the Princess would change herself and act as a parrot to whatever Queen Elsa says, than you really don't know your future wife as you should" Kristoff met my gaze, his eyes divided between anger because he knew I was right and remorse for the mess he was making.

"I know it sounds ridiculous coming from me, but I suggest you apologize now before you cross a line and throw away the best thing that's ever happened to you… and considering what just happened, I think you should use this indeterminate engagement to get to know your future wife better" I said.

"I'll leave you and Anna to talk, when you want to come apologize, _if_ you want to apologize, I'll be in the parlor. But don't come find me if you don't mean it" Elsa said and walked away, leaving me with Anna and Kristoff, not even glancing at me.

"Your Highness, Ice Master" I excused myself, bowing my head to Kristoff and bowing to Anna, before jogging after Elsa, stopping to take my work tools with me before following her. She needed to talk, I just knew it, but it took me a moment to realize that Anna and Kristoff were staring at me, so I halted my jog and calmly walked away. When I heard them walk away to have a little more privacy to talk, I made my way to the parlor where I found Elsa. She was standing with her arms crossed, looking out of the window. Quietly, I took a step inside, gently closing the door behind me. She didn't move a muscle as I stepped beside her, my gaze following hers. She was looking at the docks, but not just those, she was looking towards her kingdom. Her expression was calm, emotionless, but her amazing eyes were still speaking for her. She was not entirely mad, she was upset, but she also had that small playful glint that hid a different thought running through her head, completed by the hint of a small side smile. Silence followed for the next few seconds and to my surprise it was Elsa who broke the ice.

"You were **_not_** left on the altar" she said, stifling a small laugh. I chuckled along with her.

"No, I wasn't" I replied as she let out the amused snicker she was holding back.

"Don't you think it was a little too much?" she asked, with a playful smirk.

"No. Empathy usually works. The point was to get Kristoff to shut up and listen and my little lie did the job. He'll come around" I said trying to cheer her up.

"I really hope so, Hans" she replied looking away.

"Elsa, Kristoff loves you just as much as Anna does... sometimes fights like these happen" I replied.

"Over nothing?"

"Between brother and sister? All the time" I said smiling at her "Do you want to talk about it?" I asked.

"More like _rant_ about it" she replied "I mean, it's Kristoff we're talking about and even if between him and Anna he is the less impulsive one, he too talks before he thinks sometimes. He didn't mean what he said, I hope"

"He probably didn't"

"But still, it wasn't nice of him to blame me and say that. He crossed a line, that's why I got mad. Had it been just for the wedding thing I would have probably brushed it off, but he got way too personal"

"Well, look on the bright side, now you've got a good reason to throw ice down his shirt when he least expects it" I joked. Elsa cracked a smile, followed by a moment of silence.

"You know, you didn't have to step in" she said seriously "I can handle Kristoff"

"I know you can" I said "I just… I tried to stand back and stay out of it. I know it was not my place… but I just couldn't. I didn't like him talking to you like that… and when Kristoff got personal and topped it off with that 'manipulation' thing, I just couldn't stand back anymore… and I would do it again in a heartbeat" I said looking out of the window, unable to meet her gaze. Elsa didn't say anything, she just looked at me. I felt her eyes staring at me with a look half amused, half softened.

"What?" I asked, finally meeting her eyes.

"You feel protective of me" she stated with that playful glint in her eyes. Suddenly I felt very self-conscious, scratching the back of my neck with an embarrassed smile.

"Is that a bad thing?" I asked, unable to deny it.

"Bad? No, it's sweet. Amusing? Kind of if you look at things in their entirety" she said "Still, thank you for stepping in. The situation was getting out of control… thank you" she added seriously.

"You're welcome and I'm sorry about earlier, I didn't mean for that slip up" I said with a smile.

"It's okay. Anna and Kristoff bought it and I know you didn't do it on purpose" she said placing her hand on my arm, but the moment she spoke those words a shadow crossed her face.

"Elsa?" I called her name.

"I don't like hiding things from her" she said, meeting my gaze "I don't like hiding things from the people who trust and believe in me" It was I who couldn't look at her directly right now, the feeling of shame and guilt crawling back upon my heart. In that moment I wished so bad I hadn't cracked those months ago. I wished I was still rotting in the dungeon and that she could see me as the monster I should appear to be. I was putting her through that and we were just friends… yet again, _friends_ don't feel the kind of attraction that we had felt yesterday. _Friends_ don't get that close to a kiss. I glanced back at her, but saw that she was already looking away, my arm feeling the warmth of where she had touched me.

Elsa was looking back out of the window. I followed her gaze for a moment, but when I glance back at her, and took my time to look at her, I was struck by her image before me. Her ethereal beauty was brought to life by the game of light and shadows that caressed her delicate features and frame as the gentle rays of sunlight entered the window making her signature ice-dress sparkle and illuminating the otherwise dark parlor. Elsa's crystal eyes were fixed out of the window, her lips with the hint of a calm smile. She looked like a guardian angel watching over her people. It might sound redundant, but whenever I looked at her I was always captivated by her blue eyes.

"You have amazing eyes" the words tumbled out of my mouth before I could even think about it. Elsa's gaze moved sharply towards me, surprised by my sudden compliment.

"I… I beg your pardon?" she said, uncertain she had heard right.

"Your eyes. They're beautiful" I repeated, once again before I could stop myself. I was like in trance and the words just rolled out of my tongue in the most natural way "They're crystal blue, but at the same time they're so _liquid_ … they're mesmerizing" Elsa remained silent, looking to her feet. I noticed a faint blush on her cheeks that made my heart flutter, but it was then that I realized what I had just said "I'm sorry, that was very inappropriate of me" I apologized.

"No, it's-… it's fine" Elsa said quickly "I just wasn't expecting it"

"Still, it's not my place to speak in such way"

"Hans, really. It's fine" she said taking my hand in her and giving it a small squeeze in a swift movement, smiling reassuringly at me. Another silence. We suddenly glanced down at our hands. It was then that Elsa realized her gesture and pulled her hand away clearing her throat as I did, running a hand through my hair. God! This was awkward. You could cut through the tension with a knife as it grew even thicker with the memory of that almost kiss replaying back in our minds, especially the part where I admitted to Elsa that I _wanted_ to kiss her, making it even more awkward.

Fortunately someone knocked on the door. I took a step back clasping my hands behind my back, turning towards the door as did Elsa, telling who was outside to come in. The door handle moved and I was not surprised to see Anna enter, followed by a very sheepish looking Kristoff.

"And of course Hans is here too" Anna muttered under her breath before looking towards her sister "Elsa, Kristoff would like to say something" she said.

"Yes?" Elsa said eyeing Kristoff expectantly. The mountain man cleared his throat.

"Uhm… he-he" he laughed nervously "I… I…"Kristoff muttered before he glanced at me, rubbing the back of his neck, his eyes asking me to help him almost pleadingly. My reply was a look raising my eyebrows and a slow shake of the head, the message clearly saying: _Nope! You're on your own on this one, pal._ He replied with a small glare: _I hate you…_ his eyes said, before looking back at Elsa.

"I…" he started again "Imsor…"

"Excuse me?" Elsa pressed.

"So she can _hear_ you" Anna said with a scolding look on her face. Kristoff twitched his hands in front of him, being put on the spot. He wanted to apologize, he meant the apology, but his pride and admitting he had just made a fool out of himself was getting in the way.

"I'm… I'm sorry" he said clearly, his voice quiet, unable to meet the Queen's stern gaze. Elsa didn't move a muscle. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything I said. I was a little upset and… took it out on the wrong person. You're right… you both are" I was taken by surprise as Kristoff moved his eyes to me before looking back at Elsa "We _do_ need more time to get to know one another before taking such a step… I acted stupid and childish today, instead of processing things like an adult. I am idiot. I'm sorry, Elsa" he concluded. Anna looked at him with a satisfied look, Elsa didn't move a muscle but a very pleased look in her eyes appeared.

"Say it again" she said with a tiny smirk on her face. Kristoff looked at his feet.

"I'm sorry"

"No, before that" she said. Kristoff rolled his eyes as Anna shook her head. Elsa was clearly enjoying this moment.

"I am an idiot" he repeated.

"Again" she said taking a few steps towards him

"I am an idiot!" he continued

"Again"

"I AM AN IDIOT!" he repeated again.

"I love hearing you say things we both agree on" Elsa concluded, with a very pleased and satisfied look on her face. Anna laughed "Apology accepted" the queen said smiling warmly. Kristoff smiled.

"Can I hug you?" he asked.

"Maybe just this once" she replied with a playful look. I chuckled, unable to hold it back, but it was then that I realized that my presence had been completely forgotten in this family moment, as if I didn't exist. I watched as Kristoff wrapped his arms around Elsa in a warm brotherly hug, a content look on his face, glad he hadn't tossed away everything for something so stupid, and Anna joining the hug as her sister held out an arm for her. Then I felt it again… envy and guilt. That was something I wanted so badly, something I've searched for my whole life: a family. I could have been like them. Had I acted differently, maybe I could have been _part_ of that warm family embrace too. I had glanced at them just for a moment, but that short affectionate family moment felt like being run over by those years of suffering all over again. I turned around to start polishing the closest set of armor, but as I did I glanced out of the window and saw it: one Arendellian ship followed by a fleet that bore the crest of Drakora.

"Queen Elsa" I called motioning her to look out of the window. Elsa walked to me and glanced out. When she saw that same view color drained from her face. She didn't need someone to confirm it, she could recognize a fleet of vessels ready for war, her worst fear had come true: war had come to Arendelle. I watched as the lighthouse started glowing in patterns sending the ships a message. It was telling the Drakorian ships to dock at the military wharf and in fact they did while the Arendellian ship continued in its route. Elsa had thought of everything in order to avoid panic: make the people believe it was a military trade like the alliance papers said and speak of matters with Sky before announcing the upcoming war to the people. I glanced back at her as her blue eyes looked sharply into mine telling me not to say a word. She glanced back towards the window, swallowing a lump in her throat. I wanted so badly to touch her shoulder or take her hand to comfort her, but with the other two in the room I knew I couldn't.

"Elsa, is everything alright?" Anna suddenly asked concerned. Elsa closed her eyes for a second and drew in a quick breath before turning to face her with a smile.

"Of course! Storm and Skylynn are back" she announced with a happy grin. Anna and Kristoff's face lit up.

"Really?! Let's go meet her at the docks!" Anna said grinning from ear to ear "Come on, Kristoff!" she said pulling him to the door with her.

"Actually!" Elsa butted in immediately making them stop immediately "Kristoff, I need you to run an errand for me right now. You have to bring something to Grandpabbie, you can meet with Sky and Storm, later"

"Why didn't you tell me sooner? I would have fixed the sleigh this morning" he half-complained.

"Just ride Sven or take a horse" Elsa said obviously.

"Actually, I have a few things to bring my family myself, so… while I'm at it…" he trailed off.

"What happened to the sleigh?" Anna asked curiously.

"I may have gone over a couple of surface rocks covered by snow while I was at work… and Sven might have made a little too high of a jump" Kristoff replied. Elsa took a breath massaging the side of her temple, a gesture she always did when she was getting nervous.

"How big is the damage?" she asked.

"Luckily not that big, I just have to change a couple of parts. I just need an hour more or less"

"Good. Hans" she called, turning to me.

"Yes, my Queen?" I replied straightening up.

"How good are your manual skills?" she asked.

"Pretty good, your Majesty"

"Go help Kristoff fix the sleigh, the sooner he leaves the better" she ordered

"As you command" I replied.

"Kristoff, I'll give you the package once Anna and I are back" Elsa said. Kristoff responded with a salute and walked out of the door as I followed.

 **Kristoff's POV:**

I admit that I have acted like an ass towards Elsa and I was sincere when I apologized, but as I walked to go get the sleigh I kept glancing at the man silently walking beside me. Who the heck was this guy and what happened to the sociopath?!  
Alright, maybe I'm exaggerating. After Hans had helped in finding out who was behind the coup to kill Elsa, saving her in the woods and not wanting people to know giving the credit to me and his sister, things had changed a bit between us. There was a mutual respect. He is an observer and he knows that I love Elsa and respect her a lot, she plays Protective-Big-Sister but most of the time I feel like we treat each other and act like we're siblings ourselves and, as usual, she is the big sister. Anna too once said that if people didn't know who we were they could have mistaken us for siblings- but now I'm getting off topic. The point is: we sort of held a certain regard for each other now. Hans respected me for my loyalty to the sisters and I respected him for what he did for them. Today I wasn't expecting him to stand up for Elsa and Anna like that, or getting up to my face in the first place for that matter.

At first I thought that this punishment was a waste of time, that as soon as he got the chance he would have stabbed a dagger in Elsa and Anna's backs, but ever since the coup thing, I was having second thoughts. He had behaved himself and worked very hard every single day. Even the other servants said that he was very diligent and never once complained, even when he got the hardest or most boring jobs. He just went and did what he was asked. I was starting to think that maybe I had judged him too fast. After today I had come to the conclusion that he _was_ changing. I just knew he wasn't faking anything he said. There was something that still bugged me though… that 'slip up'. I know that old habits die hard and he probably still thinks of himself as a prince sometimes, therefore he took the liberty of addressing Elsa by her first name, but what kept bothering was the look they shot one another the moment her name tumbled out of his mouth. At first I thought it was a ' _how-dare-you_ ' look, but then I realized that it wasn't. It seemed more like a ' _oh-crap-what-did-you-do?!_ ' look, but I can't quiet put my finger on it.  
For some reason, if that was the case I can't say I'd be entirely surprised, they did spend a lot of time together. If I didn't know better, I'd say that Hans had been promoted to Elsa's personal servant.

We walked in silence, with me glancing at him every once in a while until we got to the stables where my sled was. Hans helped me move it to the courtyard so that all I had left to do was hook Sven in front of it, place the stuff I needed to take and leave. Moving the sleigh out, I noticed Hans glance at something with his eyebrows furrowed, but nevertheless he helped me move the sleigh out. We got to work the moment we settled the sleigh into the courtyard, after taking a couple of things to keep it off the ground. Hans was a silent worker, but I could tell that right now all he wanted was finish the job and go hug his sister.

For a moment I thought back about how he stepped in for Anna and Elsa. I had apologized to the Ice Queen but to think it through, I had to say something to him too.

"Hey, Hans" I called as he started to smooth the runner piece of the sleigh, like I instructed him to do.

"Yeah?" he responded keeping his eyes on the long piece of wood as he worked to smooth down the bottom side.

"I… about earlier…" I started. I couldn't believe I was actually doing this "Thank you… for stepping in" Hans stopped working for a moment and glanced at me, his face clearly surprised. It took him a few seconds before answering.

"It was nothing. Don't mention it" he replied and getting back to work.

"No, seriously, thank you. If it weren't for you I probably would have gone on with that nonsense… and I probably would have done an even bigger damage" I said.

"Well, you _did_ go a little too far and personal" he added giving me a glare. I glanced down to my work as I tried to get the damaged runner off the sleigh.

"Yeah… I acted like an ass and Elsa really doesn't deserve it and I apologized for it" I replied "I just don't understand why you stepped in" I stated, cutting the chase "I mean Elsa and Anna can take care of themselves and considering your history, I see no reason for you to step up for them. You did notice that after what you said in her defense Anna automatically was about to snap at you?"

"I did" he replied "But I already said why I stepped in. As long as I'm here working as a servant, Queen Elsa is my ruler too and-"

"Yeah, I got that. But what's the other half reason?" I cut him off. Hans took a small breath and stopped working for a moment and glanced back at me. He surprised me when he wore a strange calm smile.

"Because I know what it means to ruin your life by doing something stupid" he replied "I bet that the Princess is the best thing that's happened to you… I may have stepped in for Queen Elsa, but now that you make me think of it… I also stepped in for you" I looked down at my hands, imagining a gold wedding ring on my left ring finger, a smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

"Yeah, she is… I still can't believe I was crossing the line because I reacted so stupidly…"

"Kristoff, I'm not going to pretend like I know what in the world went through your head earlier. How could you even think that Princess Anna could be manipulated by her sister of all people?!"

"In all fairness? I have no idea!" I admitted "I just… yeah, I was upset and-"

"-Kristoff, I get it. Just as word of advice in case you already forgot what I said earlier: be patient and while you're at it, try to get to know each other better, who knows? You might learn new things you never knew about your bride-to-be" he advised before returning to his job. I smiled at myself and at him.

"I got it the first time, but thank you for the reminder" I said, then it dawned on me "Wait a minute- did I just have a heart-to-heart with my fiancée's ex?!" Hans chuckled.

"Personally, with an engagement had 10 minutes after talking to each other and lasting for three days top, I wouldn't count myself as an ex" he replied. I chuckled along with him "Anyway, runner's smooth. Are you done taking out the broken one?"

"Almost… done!" I said taking off the broken runner.

"Are you boys playing nice?" said a familiar voice they hadn't heard in a while. Hans and I turned around and saw Elsa and Anna walk towards us into the courtyard with Skylynn and Storm. Elsa had her arm looped through the young General's. Storm was a nice guy. He would have treated her well. Speaking of, since last time we saw them, there seemed to be something different to them, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. The only visible change was that Storm's usual freshly shaved face now sported a short and well-kept stubble. Oh! There was the new thing! He changed uniform! Instead of his Southern Isles uniform he had the Drakorian one. It was similar to Skylynn's but for starters his black jacket was slightly shorter and the braidings were golden, instead of white pants, his were black, like his boots. If his uniform was an example that Drakorians wanted their clothes to scream 'dangerous and deadly', then they clearly succeeded. Sky's uniform, having the white of the skinny pants and the bright silver braidings seemed to say something more like 'ambiguous' which, according to Elsa, was the first word she would describe her with.

"Hey, Skylynn! Of course we are! How was your trip?" I replied getting up from my place and giving her a hug. She paused for a moment before glancing back at me with her piercing grey eyes and a half smile.

"It was interesting" she replied.

"Can't wait to her everything about it" I replied pulling away from her. Skylynn looked behind me with a grin on her face.

"Hey, Tiger" I heard Hans say behind me, I turned around to look at them. Hans had a huge smile on his face "So are you gonna give your big brother a hug?" he said. Sky didn't reply, but her smile became bigger and she jogged to him and hugged her brother tightly as he welcomed her in his embrace and covered her cheek with kisses. They exchanged the usual greeting questions you have after not seeing someone you're close to for a while, even if it was only like two and a half weeks. I glanced at Anna who was looking at them with shock written all over her face. Elsa on the other hand had a small sweet smile on her face, but her eyes had a look I never saw before on her face as she watched them as Hans went on Dad/Big Brother mode and started asking her if she had behaved herself. Skylynn replied after playfully rolling her eyes. Hans just smiled and took her face in his hands planting a kiss on her head before pulling out of the embrace. I don't know what face I sported, but it looked both weird and sweet watching Hans showing affection towards someone. Anna met my eyes as if saying _'Have you seen that?'_ I just shrugged it and went to greet Storm with a manly handshake.

"And how are you doing _Drakorian_ General?" I asked with a smile. Elsa had told us he had been reintegrated in his country and we couldn't be happier.

"It was good to finally be back home for a while" he replied smiling.

"Well, I'm sure Storm and Sky will be happy to tell you everything about it once you're back from your errands" Elsa said giving me the look that meant _'yes, greet them, but now get going!'_.

"Of course. I'll see you later, Storm" I said.

"I too would like to stay and hear everything about it, but I've got my lesson with Mrs. Hyles…" Anna said "And I'm late again! I'll see you later!" she said and ran off into the castle, earning a laugh from all of us with her frantic exit.

"Well, Queen Elsa, I'd love to join you inside" Storm started as I went back to the sled "But, I'm afraid I have a few things to take care of" he replied bringing Elsa's gloveless hand to his lips.

"I'm sure. I won't delay you" she replied. Storm had a smile on his face and held her hand a little bit longer before letting her go. Elsa turned to the grey eyed Westerguard "Skylynn, you and I are going to have a little chat" Elsa said.

"I was hoping you'd say that" she replied "But I'd like to have a word with my Commandant first, I'll meet you in your study"

"Very well. I'll see you there" Elsa replied. Storm and Sky took a few steps away. She was saying something incomprehensible to Storm who answered with a still incomprehensible response. I guess they were talking in Drakorian. Elsa was about to take her leave when Hans spoke up again.

"Queen Elsa" he called her "I noticed that the door to Sapphire's box in the stables is broken. Steward had it fixed two days ago, but it broke again. Would you like me to fix it?"

"Yes, thank you. That would be great and… while you're at it, can you do me a favor?" Elsa replied. My head snapped up at that as I looked at them.

"Anything, your Grace" Hans replied.

"Could you go to the archive and take the documents regarding the last 10 years from section T and all those from section C and bring them to my study?" she asked.

"Consider it done, my queen" he said with a bow of the head and Elsa left. As soon as I knew she was out of earshot, my mouth blurted out the thought I was holding.

"Wow" I exclaimed.

"What?" Hans asked unsure as he went to help me substitute the runner.

"You are aware that Elsa asked for 'a favor' instead of commanding you to bring her the documents, are you?" I pointed out.

"Yes?" Hans said nonchalantly.

"This is not the first time she asks you to do things where you have the option to decline. You already have your days completely busy, why do you always do what she says when she gives you the chance to decline?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"Because I want to help her in any way I can. It's the least I could do" he replied as he joined the rear part of the runner to the sleigh "I'm not surprised if you think I'm just trying to get on her good side for my own ends. You have a very good reason for it" he added.

"Strangely enough, no. I believe you" I responded. It was true. Hans glanced at me surprised, but a small genuine smile was hinted on his face "Still, you actually do everything Elsa says without ever complaining"

"I'm here as a servant, _serve_ her is what I have to do"

"I'm not talking about when she bosses you around and does her job. I'm talking about how you do everything she says even when she's not in Queen-mode, and I _know_ that you can tell when she's not taking 'no' for an answer"

"Like I said before. I want to help" he replied. I shook my head with an amused smile on my lips. I couldn't believe the mutation in this guy, the guy who had tried to murder my queen.

"Wow!" I exclaimed.

"What now?" he responded a little annoyed.

"I just can't figure out how she managed, really. I mean, Elsa's got you whipped and she's not even giving you anything in return"

"Yeah, I know… it's like being engaged to Princess Anna" he replied. My jaw dropped to the floor as I looked at Hans's amused smirk.

"Wow… What a douchebag!" was my sole comment and then he broke out laughing.

"You served me that one on a silver plate, Kristoff" he laughed.

"No, I didn't! I was talking about salary!"

"You could have just said that I don't get paid" he responded clearly enjoying this. My answer was delivering a punch on his shoulder, but that only got him to laugh even more.

"You're an ass" I replied as he rubbed the spot I hit him.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I wound you? You want a hug?" he teased opening his arms and coming for a hug.

"Shut up. Get away from me! Get back to work" I grumbled, pushing him away as he attempted to hug me. He just laughed going back to his previous occupation.

" _Men_ …" my head snapped up as I heard Skylynn's voice. She was standing in front of her brother, arms crossed, shaking her head with a slightly amused smirk.

"Hi, Tiger!" Hans greeted again, but as Skylynn didn't say a word his lips broke into huge guilty-like grin. I remained silent and glanced between the two siblings who were clearly having a silent conversation with their eyes. I looked around, fortunately Storm had left.

"I didn't hear a thing" Skylynn said, articulating each word clearly, raising her hands as if shrugging off what she had just heard.

"Thaaanks, sissy- Thank you!" Hans and I chorused. She rolled her eyes and walked past Hans, but not without delivering a punch on his arm as she passed.

"Ow!"

"Dimwit…" she said and walked away and into the castle. I chuckled, not even attempting to hide my laugh at Hans. He glared at me, rubbing the spot his sister had hit him.

"Shut up and get back to work" he said.

"Hey! _I_ boss _you_ around. _You_ get back to work" I responded Hans shook his head, but nevertheless he finished what he was doing. While I brought Sven to the sleigh and got him ready, Hans helped me bring the stuff I needed to take Pabbie. Then, as expected, as he settled the last thing on the sleigh, Kai came into the courtyard and handed me the enveloped which turned out to be the 'package' Elsa wanted me to bring Pabbie. Hans left to his duties and I went to see my family and deliver the message.

 **Elsa's POV:**

"Considering your move with the lighthouse, I don't suppose I have to spell it out loud to you" was the sentence Skylynn broke out with as she closed the door to my study behind her.

"Skylynn, if you're trying to be funny, I'm not in the mood" I replied.

"No, I wasn't. It was a statement: you _know_ that war is coming to Arendelle" she said.

"I knew since the letter regarding your meeting with the ambassador from Weselton… I just hoped really bad to be wrong" I replied, crossing my arms in front of me "Sky, let's get to the point. What happened exactly?" I asked her. Skylynn made me a recap of what happened. The Duke was forming an army saying that after what happened, the Eternal Winter I created, I was a dangerous monster that needed to be eliminated. Skylynn, Storm and her sister-in-law had already figured out that one of the helping kingdoms was Meintank, but there must have been others. The good news is that the Southern Isles had declared themselves neutral and Drakora was going to fight by Arendelle.

"You also have Corona on your side" Skylynn added. I cringed as I remembered the agreements with Corona.

"Yeah, Sky, about Corona…" I started. Her face fell.

"Corona _is_ on your side, right?" she insisted.

"More or less…"

"You're just trading partners" she concluded.

"Yes" and I confirmed " _And_ they have declared their neutrality with that little document called _Balance Oath_ "

"Are you kidding me? That international agreement is 200 years old! Times change!" she exclaimed appalled.

"Tell that to their growing wealth and stable peace" I responded. Sky exhaled, fixing her already in place dark auburn bangs.

"Alright, we'll save the military and diplomatic strategies for later, there's more" she said going back to the previous topic "The Duke is not that stupid, aside from Meintank he must have other allies otherwise he wouldn't be so bold to declare war to both Arendelle and Drakora…" she remained silent for a moment, her silver eyes staring into emptiness. I knew that look and I didn't like it, there was something bothering her and she was debating whether or not to tell me immediately. The more my mind raced over the information to process, the more a dark thought crossed my mind and I was afraid it was exactly what my friend was thinking and was worried about.

"The Duke knows what I can do… he's seen it in first person" I started "No matter how big his army is, he knows I could freeze the water way before they could touch shore… Do you think he has found something that could fight my magic? Neutralize my powers?" Skylynn met my gaze.

"I'm afraid so" she agreed "I thought about it, but I also believe that he is also pushing on the fact that if you _do_ use your magic, there is a chance you _could_ actually pass for the real enemy"

"We need to find a way to avoid war" I said after a moment of silence as my brain was trying to think about a diplomatic strategy.

"There _is_ no way to avoid it" Skylynn replied, crossing her arms "The Duke is not going to back down, unless we strike first and damage his alliance"

"No, I won't risk those many lives" I pressed on "There is always another way, perhaps we can talk to him? Try to get him to back out"

"He's beyond that. After we cut ties with Weselton, Arendelle following suit as well made the Duke lose a big part of income in his commercial empire. He wants that back and he's using the other kingdom's ignorance and fear to turn them against you and take it by force" Skylynn replied "Besides…" she added "He has unfinished business with Drakora, so this is his chance to get two birds with one stone. Him and his allies against two young queens, one with a rebuilding kingdom, the other who has never faced a war before" she pointed out. I took a deep breath. "We do have one advantage though" the grey eyed queen added "He doesn't think us capable of handling our own, or rather, if he prefers to attack the kingdom with a magical queen instead of the rebuilding one with a mere mortal as leader, that tells me that he thinks _you_ are the weak link. Our advantage is that he underestimates us, underestimates _you_. **_That_** is going to be his ruin"

Not too long ago I was having doubts…again. I kept thinking that I didn't know if I was ready for this, that maybe whatever I did was not enough. I was afraid, I still am, but now Skylynn's words struck me in the face like a lightning bolt. It hit me how much her words made me think of Anna's when she asked me to thaw Arendelle, or how I overheard Hans confess his sister how he thinks I have all the potential to be the greatest ruler Arendelle will ever have or how he told me he knew I could handle the upcoming war. Now, Skylynn said this with that encouraging smirk she wore whenever she left the positive subtext for me to understand. They believed in me. They believed in me more than I believed in myself… in a moment those words and stream of memories shifted my point of view of this situation completely. It wasn't just my people I couldn't fail or my family. I had spent my whole life thinking of myself as a failure, thinking that I wasn't good enough. Facing this war not just about saving my kingdom and not disappointing the three most important people in my life anymore. It was also about proving a point to myself: I am more than what my fears made me grow to believe. I was not going to stand back and do nothing when my people needed me. It was true: I had no idea how to manage an army during war, but if there is one thing Skylynn taught me is that some things are learnt by _doing_ them... and this was one of those things.

"Very well, then! Let's use that advantage" I stated determent, my eyes meeting hers. Skylynn's side smirk grew slightly wider with a proud look in her eyes. It dawned upon me that it was that determination she wanted to see in me and well… I was just getting started "Skylynn, before we take matters to the War Room with the Generals I need to ask you something" I told her "If we win what do you want in exchange for your help?" Skylynn's eyes morphed from proud to puzzled as remained silent for a moment, eyeing me with her analyzing gaze.

"What do you mean?" she asked

"I mean that this is _my_ battle" I replied "The only reason you're supporting me is because of that alliance we signed, but you and I both know that the kind of assistance you're giving me is way more than what has been stipulated. I know that you want to help me because you're my friend, but as queen I am aware that you can't make your people fight a war that is not theirs without a good reason for it. So, what does Drakora want in exchange?" I asked.

"Nothing" Skylynn replied simply "This is Drakora's battle too and I don't need to explain to my people why we _need_ Arendelle. We've experienced firsthand what kind of snake the Duke is. All he wants is power. Yes, my people are strong and prepared soldiers who'd rather face death than slavery, but they know that if Arendelle is to fall to Weselton, Drakora is _done_. I do believe that the ambassador was telling the truth. If the Duke has an army big enough to face our kingdom's together and potentially a magical weapon to defeat you, once he has your army at his command as well, there is no way Drakora could stop him"

"Your kingdom is twice as mine, Skylynn. You _could_ put up a fight" I pointed out.

"Yes, we could, but you're forgetting that we're still rebuilding. Not to mention that, once he gets your army and has outnumbered us, the most logical strategy for him and his allies is to open multiple fronts forcing me to scatter my troops around the country. We're likely to lose. Besides you just made another fair point: my kingdom is twice as yours, so why would I want more lands if I can't control them?" she pointed out. It made sense. We were in this together, we were bounded to each other. Without Drakora's help Arendelle is doomed, without Arendelle's help, Drakora is.

"Fair point" I replied "But _I_ am the one who actually has a condition"

"And what would that be?"

"Let _me_ handle the diplomacy, not just because Arendelle is the battleground, but also because I'd prefer to avoid diplomatic incidents due to… _bad temper_ , let's put it that way" I said eying her.

"Excuse me, the Wessel deserved it. You come threaten my people, I kick you out Drakorian style" she replied unfazed "But alright, I'll leave the non-Drakora-related diplomacy to you… unless I think the other side is trying to fool us by an apparent peaceful solution or you're doing something really stupid; _then_ I'll step in"

"And I can work with that, thank you" I said with a tiny smirk that matched hers

"But if you put it that way, then I _do_ have a condition –well-… it's more of a request, actually" she said.

"I'll let you handle the military part, but as you have a say in matters regarding our alliance, I'll also step in when I think we're being tricked into something… or _you're_ doing something really stupid" I added mimicking her.

"Then, hopefully, neither of us is going to get in the other's line" she replied with a smirk, but then she turned serious "But that was no the request part" she said "I want our men to train together. They need to know one another and learn how to trust each other, because in this war Arendelle's snowflake and Drakora's D-shaped dragon are the same banner. Storm and I will train them personally with your generals…" she paused, but then her eyes met mine with a steel look that clearly meant that she was not taking no for an answer on this as she added "…and I want you to assist to every battle simulations. You need to learn more about strategy, assisting to simulations is a good start" I needed this, by looking at our warriors move from the outside, not only I would start getting an idea of strategies, but I could also see which where our strengths and weaknesses.

"Alright, deal" I said with no hesitation "I'm glad we have an agreement"

"So do I" she replied. There was a moment of silence. Skylynn was looking at me weirdly, she had a determent look, but also a small hint of a knowing smile. It was the look she had when she knew something about you that you don't, like if she had plans. Before I could ask, she spoke up again "How do you want to proceed with the preparations, Elsa?" she asked, but this time I didn't paralyze, like I would have. I already had an idea… risky and a tough task, but times _do_ change and so do needs.

"I'll send word to Corona about the upcoming war and try to get them to side with us on the battlefield" I decided "The royal family is aware about my abilities, I'll send them a message with the snowfalcon. Skylynn, you and Storm meet me in an hour in the War Room and tell your men not to get off those ships in full armor until I announce the upcoming war publicly"

"Done that already" she replied promptly.

"Perfect, go get Storm and I'll see you then" I said as if on cue, I heard a knock on the door and invited them to come in. It was Hans, holding a stack of documents in his arms.

 **Hans's POV:**

"Your Majesty, the documents you asked me to get for you" I said as I entered her study"Hey, Sky" I greeted my sister as I carried two small stacks of papers to Elsa's desk.

"Thank you, Hans" she replied. I looked between them, back and forth. I hesitated for a moment, not sure if I should say anything or keep things to myself, but then I thought that both Elsa and Skylynn told each other everything and that Elsa probably knew that so do Skylynn and I, besides, _she_ told me about the upcoming war, Elsa must have told Sky that she had told me that. With that thought, I spoke up.

"Alright, I'll just say it" I said "You both know that I know about the upcoming war, so… when I saw that section C had all the documents regarding Corona from the last 300 years, I took a peak at most of the documents and I found the paper regarding the _Oath of Balance_ " I said taking the paper on top of the pile where I had put it "I brought them all just in case- but since the documents you asked from section T regard trading in the Fjordlands, I need to ask, Queen Elsa-"

"Yes, Hans, that's exactly why I asked you to get me those papers" she said already knowing the question I was going to ask.

"You are aware that asking Corona to annul the _Oath of Balance_ is likely to have a negative turn out? And you have way more pressing matters on your plate" I said passing her the document. Skylynn looked at Elsa with a proud look.

"I know, but I have to try" she replied with a determent look in her eyes "They're part of the Fjordlands too, the possibility of Weselton becoming an unstoppable force should concern them. We don't know who are Weselton's other allies, we need all the help we can get"

"Elsa's right, Hans" Skylynn said eying me "Arendelle needs help" I glanced back at her. She was giving me _the_ look, her silver eyes not moving from mine. It was then that I knew that with _Arendelle_ she meant _Elsa_.

"If I can't get Corona to send military help, at least I could get them to send us supplies" the queen continued, looking at the paper unaware of our silent exchange.

"Or moral support, like the one a leader gives her warriors when she fights among them" Skylynn added, her eyes not leaving mine. It was then that I realized what she was planning. Elsa gave her a look before returning her eyes to the paper in front of her.

"Hopefully you won't have to get to that this time, Skylynn" she said, clearly having no idea of what was going on in her friend's head right now.

"Never say never" Skylynn replied, eyeing me, before breaking eye contact "I'll go find Storm. I'll see you in an hour" she said.

"I'll go fix Sapphire's box, your Majesty" I said trying to get out of that room and talk Skylynn out of that idea. Elsa excused us and we both got out immediately. When we were a few feet away and with no guard or servant in sight, I grabbed Sky's elbow, making her stop and walk in front of her.

"It's a terrible idea!" I said, keeping my voice down just in case.

"You know her people love her. She's a symbol of safety and hope to them, they need her among them. She's the only one who can motivate them to fight for Arendelle" Skylynn replied.

"Yes, and they need her alive! As for the motivation, Elsa doesn't need to walk into battle to do that"

" _You_ don't need her to go into battle to give everything you have because _you_ have fallen in love with her, but her people do" she said twisting a salty dagger into the wound as she said that…and I knew she said it on purpose as a jab.

"First of all, _that's_ not true!" I denied, feeling a rush of pain run through me "Second of all, if Elsa goes into battle and uses her magic, to our enemys' eyes she's just going to prove the Duke right even if she's just freezing the water or creating ice war machines to help her men fight"

"She won't be using her magic" Skylynn said. Now that worried me even more.

"Then how is she-"

"-Hans, stop acting dumb, you know what I'm talking about!" she cut me off exasperated "Don't tell me you haven't thought that the Duke might have something to neutralize her magic! You're an admiral, yourself! You know how these things work! The fact that Elsa might not be able to use her magic will already be disheartening to her people, but if her powers actually get neutralized or her magic defeated, it will be a huge blow to her people's confidence and none of us can afford anyone to think 'defeat'. Elsa must learn how to use a sword and how to fight -for real- no magic involved"

 _Knowing that their queen is capable to keep on fighting will prevent the Arendellians to be scared off,_ I thought to myself, unfortunately knowing that my sister had a very valid point… and as much as I hated the idea of Elsa going onto the battlefield, if things were to get ugly, her presence there with her magic along with fighting skills might be what it takes to turn things around. If Storm had been her to speak with us, he would reluctantly agree with me, after all, that is what he said about my sister's arrival to Drakora during the time of need. I sighed.

"Alright, I'll train her, but I can't guarantee Elsa will be okay with it" I said, knowing the risks of that.

"No offence, Big Brother, but you won't be training her. I will" Sky said with a smirk.

"Why the heck not?! You have other things to do, like- I don't know- maybe planning a strategy, prepare _your_ soldiers?!" I complained

"And I will, but I have my Commandant back, so Storm can help me take care of it" she said "Besides, I don't need to list all the risks and possible outcomes of you two being caught together sparring, right? Not to mention that Elsa needs to be ready for the worst… you having feelings for her would only make you go soft on her and not do what needs to be done" she said seriously.

"Are you still insisting on that?!" I protested

"You really don't realize how much or _how_ you talk about her in your letters, do you?"

"With admiration and respect" I replied.

"Yeah… and the longing looks are just a result of my imagination"

"Really, Skylynn?!" I exploded, just before returning my voice down "I can't have feelings for Elsa, I respect her, but I'm not in love with her. And what about you and Storm?" Sky looked at me challengingly.

" _What_ about me and Storm?"

"One would say that getting him to spend his time with the soldiers and away from you would mean avoiding him, which usually happens when you either have a bad argument or the sparks that have always been between you two start flying. As if _your_ longing looks weren't evidence enough"

"Whatever- this is irrelevant but we're not done talking about this. I am training Elsa. Period" she declared "She's never going to agree right away, but give me a few weeks and I'll get her to train with me" I took a deep breath.

"Fine" I said "But she has to be the best warrior in Arendelle, she needs to be at least just as good as you, don't you dare stop training her until she's ready. Promise me that once she's completed her training nothing is going to happen to her on the battlefield" I said, staring at my sister in the eyes. I was hoping Sky would say anything else, or that she would just nod her head, but that wasn't her. She was a realist and she replied with the coldest thing she could say to me.

"That is a promise I can't make" Skylynn said slapping the uncertainty of war in my face "But she won't set foot on the battlefield until she's ready, _that_ I can promise" I didn't like the sound of this, but I knew it was necessary; we needed to do what needed to be done. Elsa was going to be there for her people and she was going to be there through thick and thin and in order to do that she needed to be ready for anything. If there was someone who could save Arendelle that was Elsa.

* * *

 **And after the long wait here it is! I just finished writing and I'm jet-lagged so sorry for any mistakes. I hope it made up at least a little bit for the long wait! What did you think about it? Elsa is going to be trained in sword fighting and things are little bit awkward between her and Hans, how do you think that will work out? What did you think about Hans and Kristoff bonding a little? Let me know with a REVIEW and I hope the next chapters will be good!**

 **IMPORTANT!** **I need your help, guys! I really want to keep on writing the story, but circumstances kind of prevent me from thinking about it and writing. I would really be grateful if some of you would give me constructive criticisms, because it helps me a lot in how to proceed and make the story better, sometimes it even gives me ideas. I hope you can find the time to give me a hand!**

 **See you all next chapter!**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	31. First Trainings and Man Talk

**Hans's POV:**

Arendelle changed the moment Elsa announced that Weselton was planning on declaring war to us. There was a different aura around the capital and it suggested me that things were like that throughout the whole kingdom. The Drakorian and Arendellian soldiers had immediately started their training together. Elsa wouldn't miss one of their battle simulations, learning and eating with her eyes every ounce of strategy knowledge those simulations offered her. Princess Anna would be there every once in a while, she too trying to absorb all the information she could. She figured that Elsa would have wanted her there and she was not going to leave her sister alone in this situation.

It pained me to realize that I had become invisible once more. Elsa was too busy to care for a serving inmate, but there was nothing more I would have wanted than to train with her men and make myself useful, but I knew that the best thing I could do right now was not cause her any problems. She spent most of her time with her generals planning strategies and in her study writing letters to the coronian royal family. Trying to annul that contract was a hard task and she was trying her best to get to that. Skylynn hadn't said a word about training her in sword-fighting yet and I knew it was best for me not to say a word about it either. That day, I was taking my lunch break by the stables. Nobody except Steward was there, keeping an eye on me. He was not too far away from me, taking a bite of his sandwich as I ate mine when a voice I recognized all too well came to my ears. It was Elsa _ordering_ Steward to give us a moment to speak. Steward vanished in a second, knowing well that that tone meant she was extremely irritated with something. Meanwhile I froze, as I was about to bite my sandwich, and just one thought ran through my head: _crap! What did I do?_

I only moved my eyes in her direction and realized she was not mad at me when I took in her appearance. Elsa was wearing the riding outfit she wore when she assisted to the battle simulations or had to spend a few hours at the dusty army barracks training grounds. It was the only time I ever saw Elsa wearing pants and I had to say she killed it. Only that this time, for the first time ever, I saw her completely disheveled: her blonde braid, always perfect and well-kept was sloppy and hair in general tousled, she was drenched in sweat and covered head to toe in dirt and dust. I put my sandwich away as she marched towards me with fire in her eyes. Luckily no one was around.

"You!" she thundered pointing her finger at me. I stood up carefully as she stomped towards me " ** _Your_** sister is a sociopathic… _WITCH_!"

"Something tells me you actually meant that word with capital B" I said, kind of amused at her outburst "What did she do?"

"SHE _THREW_ A **_SWORD_** AT ME!" Elsa said still in disbelief.

"You mean she invited you to duel with her" I said, amused. Elsa was mad but not too mad.

"She _forced_ me into a duel with her! I've never even picked up a sword before!" Elsa said still in some sort of shock "Look at me! Skylynn turned me into a messy, loamy skunk! I literally got my butt kicked and ate dust for the past two hours, not to mention that I probably already have a bruise the size of an eggplant on a meniscus!" Elsa busted out.

"And that's just the beginning" I confessed. Elsa glared at me the moment realization dawned upon her "Yes, I did know"

"And you didn't bother telling me _before_ she threw me around in the dirt like a rag-doll?" Elsa demanded.

"Would you have agreed to have her train you?" I responded. Elsa took a deep breath.

"No" she said.

"Thought so"

"A heads up would have been nice, though" Elsa pouted. I looked at my lunch in my hands then back at her.

"Sandwich?" I offered with an apologetic grin "For your bruised meniscus and queen-ego". Elsa's narrowed eyes looked back and forth from me to the sandwich then back to me then her lips broke into a lighthearted laughter and I joined in.

"Thank you, I needed a laugh" she said "But no sandwich, thank you" she reclined.

"I supposed you did with everything going. I haven't seen you as much, lately" I said. Elsa's small laughter died with an apologetic shyness "You're pretty busy, I understand that… with everything going on you don't have time to waste with me" I said.

"Hans, you're not a waste of time" Elsa said. It was nice to hear it, but it wasn't the truth.

"The shift in our relationship doesn't cancel my crimes or your position" I added

"Well, it's not up to laws or society to decide who I deem worthy of my time" Elsa replied with a winning smirk. I smiled at her witty response "Anyway, I didn't come all the way here looking like this just to yell at you" Elsa said, her expression becoming a bit more serious.

"I'm all ears" She didn't speak right away, instead she smiled gratefully and sat on the hay ball, next to where I had been sitting.

"I was skeptical at first, but Skylynn made a very good point to why I need to do this… I kind of really figured that out when I got the air knocked out of me in front of my subjects. Not just the soldiers, even the few staff members that were there" she started.

"I'll remind you that, whatever she did, Sky went easy on you today. Don't expect that from her in the days coming" I informed her, as I sat beside her.

"I know that and I don't expect anything less" she said "But that's not where I was going… It's that when I got knocked off my feet for… -God knows how many times- it wasn't some sort of _'humiliation'_ that made me determent to go through with this training. When I looked around while gasping for air, all I saw in my people's eyes and faces was… shocked fear" Elsa confessed looking at me "Everyone knows what is coming… and what they witnessed today was that their Snow Queen without her magic is weak" she said, looking at me straight in the eyes "I can't afford my people going into battle with that idea of me…"

"You'll be up to the task, I know it. You're stronger than you think, Elsa" I said.

"Thanks for the blind faith, but you really wouldn't have said that if you had witnessed me getting tossed around like a toy" she said a little sadly.

"No, no. I am _sure_ you got yourself humiliated" I said "Sky must have kicked your butt badly and you're _still_ going to get your butt kicked. She's going to train you and you're going to fail, many times, over and over again… but guess what? Nobody learns without getting anything wrong. The important thing is to never give up until you make it. Once you fall, get back on your feet and start over" I told her gently "It was you who reminded me of this lesson…" Elsa's blue eyes met mine in surprise as I reminded her of that day in that guest room, the day I broke down "If you could do it with your life, doing it physically won't be as hard. All you need is determination and that is certainly something you don't lack of" Elsa looked at me with a grateful smile on her face.

"Thank you, Hans" she replied softly, before looking away "Anyway… Anna wasn't there today, but there's no way she'll stay in the dark. She is probably going to want to train too, once she sees me do it. So, Queen's order: do not train her to join me on the battlefield. If for some reason she comes to you and asks for training, don't do it." I hesitated. Having Anna alongside her would have been helpful for both Elsa and Arendelle's confidence and in controlling the army, but I understood very well Elsa's reasons for not wanting her there.

"If the princess _does_ come to me as a last resort…are you sure about this?" I asked. It was then that she looked back at me sharply in the eyes.

"Yes" she stated "Hans, older sibling to older sibling" she started placing her hand on my arm "Don't let Anna follow me into the battlefield. _Don't_ train her to do so"

"Of course" I replied. I understood her worry very well. Having Anna help her would have been good, but if Elsa said that she wanted her sister protected in the palace, so be it.

"Thank you" Elsa said and I instantly missed the warmth of her hand as she slid it off of my arm "I better go… duty calls" she paused looking at her dirty attire "… and a bath" she added. I snickered at her sadden expression as she glanced at her clothes.

"I highly suggest you put aside the regal clothing for a while, my Queen" I said "You're probably going to be tossed around a lot for a while"

"Don't I know it?" Elsa replied resigned, earning a small chuckle from me "I'll see you around, Hans" with that she excused herself and walked away calling back Steward. I let out a deep breath… I felt so useless. I wanted to help somehow, but unless Elsa asked me for something, my hands were tied.  
Now that we spoke about my sister though, it wasn't just Elsa who had vanished, Sky almost did exactly the same thing. She would come see me every now and then, but she was very busy as well. There was a matter I needed to talk to her about: Storm. Ever since they had returned from Drakora I knew something must have happened between them. Sky was clearly trying to avoid the topic, whenever she felt like I was going there and when I saw her encounter Storm, she did all she could to get away from him immediately. She didn't have her angry face on so that meant just one thing: sparks went flying… again. I had to talk to her. I knew she needed to talk to someone.

Only a few days later I had the opportunity to stop her. I was on duty at the barracks… I had to polish the armors… still, it was my chance to go talk to my sister. My original plan was to do everything quickly so that I had some free time to talk to her, but when I got to the barracks and saw Elsa, or more specifically her attire: shirt, pants and boots; I realized that it was not the right moment to stop and chat. Skylynn was just about to start training Elsa, she was going to be hard on her and it was just the beginning. They were working on endurance. They had a whole arena in the barracks just for themselves and it was all set up with hurdles and obstacles of every kind. Sky didn't even explain her what to do, apparently they had been working on this for a while and Elsa did not look happy about it. Nevertheless, as soon as Sky said 'go', the two of them started running their track, Elsa going over the obstacles and Sky jogging beside her.

I wasn't the only one among the staff members who was watching, in the shade, calmly polishing the armors. Others were there too as were soldiers. The only thing I could think of was how much of a bastard my sister actually was. Bastard to the core. Not only she kicked Elsa's butt in front of her subjects on the first day, but the training grounds were pretty much open to the public. That meant that anyone could go see the queen's progress only to be disappointed when she failed, which was going to happen for a while and it was going to either motivate Elsa to do better for them or crush her confidence in herself. It was entirely up to Elsa. As I took in the course, I realized the type of training she was giving her. It was the same she gave to her expert soldiers. The first obstacle Elsa was supposed to go over were a series of hurdles that got higher and higher, meaning she had to climb up and jump upon each one of them without falling. Elsa seemed to get over the first obstacle without too many problems, but…

"Quick, Elsa! Quick! Move it! You're too slow! Were there an archer, you'd be dead already!" Skylynn shouted at her, jogging in place before going back to following her as Elsa jumped back down, rolling on her shoulder before getting back up. "At least you learned how _not_ to break your knees! Keep going!" Sky yelled. Elsa did not say a word and swiftly made her way to the next obstacle close by: the inclined wall. Elsa didn't lose a beat and hopped on the ledge. She struggled a bit but managed to go over and run down. Next came the island hopper and the queen did well on that. Elsa was quite agile and being slim helped. Followed by the island hopper came the hip-hip which Elsa did just fine, until the last one, where, trying to go faster, she tripped on the last hurdle and fell over into the dirt. In that moment, I noticed how a passing by soldier was about to run to her aid, just as I was, but refrained a second later, knowing better than to interfere.

"What was that?! Give me ten sit-ups! Now!" Skylynn commanded and Elsa didn't even check if she was fine and did what Sky ordered her to. She did those well enough, but as she got up, anyone could see she was running out of breath. Then came the ladder. The Snow Queen didn't hesitate and jumped, grabbing the first pipe and proceeding one tube after the other, until she got to the last pipe. Right in front of it was one long single pipe, I watched as Elsa swung forward a couple of times. She jumped reaching out for the pipe and missing it miserably, falling almost flat on her face. She grunted angrily to herself, slapping a hand on the ground.

"Yeah, you're right! That was pathetic! Get up, give me a ten and then get started with those pull-ups!" Skylynn yelled as Elsa quickly scrambled in position and started doing push-up, only to have my sister yell at her on how she was doing them incorrectly "Hips up! Back straight! Get all the way to the ground and back up! Start over! One!… Two!… Three!…" she yelled. Elsa didn't say a word but by her expression anyone could tell she was feeling her muscles growing weak, in fact she only managed to do five before her arms gave out and she fell on her stomach.

"That was worse than pathetic! Work those twig arms! Get started on the pull-ups!" Sky commanded. Elsa got back up, a determent look on her face, and jumped on the pipe. Her muscles were tired already and she was struggling with the pull ups and for the first time ever I found myself _pitying_ the blonde queen. The more she proceeded with the obstacles, the worse her performance was getting. She was out of breath, her muscles clearly aching and Skylynn was not just hard on her, she was going full-on-Alpha on her. I tried to turn off my brain and concentrate on my cleaning work, but I couldn't help paying attention to what they were doing. Elsa did that same course for at least a whole hour, growing tired and tired, with only five minute breaks between every lap, before Skylynn had her change exercise. I noticed a bag in the corner in the shade, Sky took it and brought it in the middle of the arena. Elsa stood a few feet apart.

"Footwork and reflexes" Sky said with a smirk, taking out one of the objects hidden in the bag.

"Oh no, not the pine cones again" Elsa complained, exasperated as Sky tossed up and caught the pine cone in her left hand.

"You can dodge a pine cone, you can deflect a blade… or dodge a punch in hand combat" and she threw the pine cone at her with strength.

"Wait!" Elsa exclaimed dodging the first pine cone "Ow! OW!" as she got his with the second and third pine cone "I wasn't ready!-Skylynn!- HEY!- OUCH!" she complained as she received a last hit.

"You're lucky I'm using pine cones. In Drakora, we use our southern coconuts" Sky said "That guy over there, trained me with coconuts in the Isles" she added pointing at me. I received a few glances from the bystanders and I replied with a shrug. Hey! I created a great warrior by throwing coconuts, so what?

"You're nuts!" Elsa complained "Both of you!"

"Less talking! More footwork! Dodge!" and she started throwing pine cones at her again "We've got a whole bag to use and re-use!"

"Ow!" Elsa yelped getting hit on the shoulder, but ducked just in time for another pine cone "Ha! You missed!-OOF!" she yelped as a pine cone hit her on a pressure point, in the middle of her torso, just under the center of the ribcage. Ouch… that spot hurts… a lot. Sky gave her a break as Elsa's kneeled down holding her stomach in pain.

"Less waste of breath! More concentration! I thought you'd be better at this by now" was all she got as a reply. No matter the pain, Elsa took a few breaths and straightened back up and concentrated, dodging pine cones and still getting hit by some of them. Those were going to leave a few bruises. I decided it was best to concentrate on my own work while the girls continued their training. After a while, someone else came into view, Storm. He wasn't wearing his uniform jacket, had just a shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, was sweaty and his black pants covered in sandy dirt. He was coming back or taking a break from training with his men. His blue eyes settled on the two queens as they were on a rather loose hanging log working on balance. Usually there would be bags of sand or something to soften the landing if one was to fall, but Sky didn't put any just like I taught her and how she trained her men. We both believe that people are like dogs in many aspects, they don't learn until they hurt themselves… and that was exactly what Elsa did. She fell, a lot, but every time she got back up it seemed to be taking longer for her to fall once more.

"Oh my God! She wasn't kidding" Storm said walking up to me, his breathing still quite heavy. I was surprised he started a conversation with me, but since he was apparently clueless, I could talk to him before talking to Sky.

"Interesting how she still manages to surprise you" I replied "You done with training your men for today?"

"No, I've got about a thirty-minute break before the next battery of men. I thought I'd pass by and check on how things were going. A case in which curiosity and suitor-duty fit perfectly together" he replied with a small smile.

"Oh, yeah? Towards whom?" I replied raising my head to look up at him from the bench I was sitting on. Storm's eyes met mine. His smile vanished, immediately catching on to what I was insinuating. His greenish-blue orbs darted towards the guard who was not that far away from us. The man met his gaze and Storm motioned him to give us some space. The man nodded his head and took a few steps away out of earshot. Storm silently sat down beside me.

"I don't know, Hans" he said quietly running a hand through his hair, answering to my unasked question.

"Care to at least tell me what's going on?" I asked, my voice matching his so that no one could hear us. Especially since Elsa and Skylynn where just a few feet away from us, fortunately too busy to care about us and out of earshot for that matter "You two are clearly trying to avoid one another, Skylynn in particular" I pointed out.

"It's complicated…" he said "It feels like every time we have a reconnection something just _has_ to go wrong and we have to fall out again"

"Storm, why don't we start calling things with their proper names? You two had an attraction" I called him out "… _again_ " I added, polishing the wrist-guard in my hand.

"Hans!" he scolded in a worried whisper "Elsa's right there!"

"Oh, so _now_ you remember about Elsa?" I said, a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach, suddenly the memory of our almost-kiss coming back to me.

"Elsa never left my mind" he replied promptly.

"Neither has Sky, apparently" I added a little harshly "What game are you playing at? You court Elsa, but pursue Skylynn at the same time?" Storm glanced at my eyes. He moved his gaze towards the two queens, as Elsa was just climbing up again on the hanging log.

"I… Hans, look, it's complicated… I won't deny that there's always been chemistry between Sky and I… but she rejected me again… Landon is still in her heart… he always will be" he said with an aura of sadness in his eyes "I might have stolen her first kiss, but Landon stole her heart" he paused and then looked back at me "I care about Elsa, I really do. I just-" he cut himself off, letting out a breath, glancing at the queens once more "They're special… both of them, each on their own way. By leaving I might have saved Sky, but I also let her slip through my fingers. I don't regret the choice I made, because having her in my life as a dear friend is better than not having her at all… Elsa is amazing and- "

"-I know who Elsa is, Storm. This isn't about them, though. It is about you." I cut him off. He didn't realize it, but his words made the situation as clear as day: Storm was still in love with Skylynn, but was trying to move on with Elsa… whom I almost got to cheat on him with none other than myself... _I'm such a hypocrite_ … "I know that in your heart, you've never really given up on Sky. I don't think you truly believe Landon is the reason of her rejection, but you're too scared to find out. We both agree that Elsa is a wonderful woman. She's smart, compassionate, sweet, loyal, all qualities you like, and I don't blame you for it. What I do blame you for is that you're not courting her because you're attracted by her, but so you can forget about Sky and that is not fair to Elsa"

"That's not true!" Storm replied

"Is it?" I replied "Storm, we're also talking about my sister here. You can't have them both. You have to choose: Elsa or Skylynn, but you have to do it soon. With this war coming, we can't afford either of them to be distracted and these things take time to get over. Most of all, this situation isn't good for anybody: it's not good for Elsa, it's not good for Sky and it's not good for you"

"I… I actually thought about this… I just need some time to think how to approach this" he said.

"Good" it was then that my eyebrows furrowed as my green eyes fixed into his blue ones "But if you hurt Elsa… _or_ Skylynn… you're going to answer to me. Is that clear, Commandant?" and there it was, that feeling in my stomach again. Storm's eyes gazed into mine for a moment, then a look of understanding flashed through them, making a chill run down my spine.

"Hans, is there something you need to tell me?" he asked.

"No" I stated, glaring back at him.

"Are you sure?" he continued.

"Why shouldn't I be?"

"No reason in particular… just asking" was all he said and walked away, back to his arena. I hadn't convinced him. Crap! Whatever he thought he understood, I just hoped it didn't complicate things… in any possible way. Still, both Sky and Storm needed to clear the air. Whatever _thing_ going on between them was now a distraction to them both unless they made up their minds. The Queen of Drakora and her Commandant needed to be comfortable around each other, not act like they were going to run away from one another on sight.  
Luck, though, was not on my side today. When both Elsa and Skylynn were taking a break, I was ushered away by the guards to my next duty… Dang it! That just meant that unless Sky came to see me, I was forced to keep our conversation on hold.

 **Elsa's POV:**

I thought sparks were going to fly when Storm returned. I was happy to see him, but I expected something… _more_. No matter how busy I was with writing the Coronan monarchs regarding the annulment of their neutrality treaty, we still found some time to hang out, and Storm was pleasantly surprised when I suddenly found myself more comfortable with touching him without gloves, especially when he took my hand in his and I didn't pull back… but it wasn't what I expected it to be after a few months of courtship. Yet, when I thought about it, was this really a courtship? He never even tried to ask if he could kiss me… and I was strangely okay with that.

Today, while training, I saw Hans and Storm talk out of earshot of both mine, Skylynn's and the few staff members walking about the training grounds. I found myself praying that Hans didn't let anything about what happened at the lake slip up. I was too busy holding my balance on the hanging log to focus much on them, but I was more worried with the possibility of scandal and losing credibility and authority in a moment like this, than Storm's reaction… but I was afraid of losing his friendship… _Friendship…_ I cared a lot about his friendship. Storm was the perfect husband for _Queen_ Elsa: loyal, respectful, smart, a general, handsome… but for _Elsa_ … the spark I hoped for, never ignited… it was then clear as day right then. I was the queen, I had to end the courtship in regard to him and I had to do it now… then I fell off the log.

"Hold your balance! How do you expect to fight on unstable grounds?" Skylynn shouted at me as I sat back up, rubbing the aching spot my lower back. At this rate I was going to suffer of backache before I turned thirty. Nevertheless, I got back up on my feet, ready to start over, when one of my lieutenants came rushing into the training grounds.

"Queen Elsa!" he addressed me, walking quickly towards me, he was holding a small leather folder.

"Yes, Lieutenat?" I responded. I didn't need to look at Sky to know she had just backflipped down from the log, causing me to roll my eyes at her… _showoff…_ still, it bugged me to see her do _that_ while I wasn't even capable of holding my balance, and she knew. That's why she did it ever since we started working on the hanging log. The lieutenant, though, wasn't expecting it.

"Impressive" was his sole amazed comment towards her

"Thank you" Sky replied nonchalantly.

"Lieutenant" I called back his attention. The man cleared his throat and got it back together.

"The escort to the King of Corona has sent a message. Thanks to the Drakorian escort he safely crossed the border four days ago and he will soon be here" he said handing me the folder. I opened it and read the message that confirmed what the lieutenant had said, then I looked at the date. Storm season was here now, the fastest way to Arendelle City was by sea for them, but a lot can happen in three days. Therefore, for the king's safety, with Sky's permission I suggested him to travel north through Drakora. It was about a week's journey, but the distance by ship was about a day to the closest spot near Drakora's capital. The only dangerous part was crossing the border as it was close to Meintank and a diplomatic incident with Corona was the last thing we needed, therefore, we arranged a Drakorian escort from the capital to crossing the border and an Arendellian one from the border to Arendelle City. _That_ and for occasional bandits. Anyway, I looked at the date.

"This was written yesterday… if they crossed the border four days ago then they should be here this evening" I said asking for confirmation with my eyes to the soldier.

"Yes, judging from the position our scouts spotted the escort about an hour ago" the lieutenant confirmed.

"Very well" I gave him the report back

"Your Majesty… Queen Skylynn" the man excused himself and walked away.

"Well, we need to start thinking about our diplomatic strategies. Enough training for today" Skylynn said as soon as the man was out of earshot.

"I thought we agreed _I_ was handling the diplomacy" I said glancing at her.

"Yeah, well… I still have to solve some issues for Drakora" she replied, "Remember the destroyed Coronan trading ships?"

"I thought you already told them it was Hugh's scam to sabotage you"

"Yes, but we never restored the goods they lost… that's what happens when your kingdom is devastated by a civil war. You don't have a defeated enemy kingdom to have pay for its war crimes and you have to make a choice: save the alliance and risk the kingdom, or risk the alliance and save the kingdom" she said before turning her silver eyes to meet mine "Most of the time that is the outcome of wars in general" … and I really hoped it wouldn't have come to that. Sky looked away and her serious expression was once again ruled by her confident smile.

"Well, tomorrow you better start doing better than this. I'll see you later"

"Ow!" I yelped as she gave me a pat on my back right on a bruise.

"Oh, I'm sorry" she apologized. I gave her a look.

"You sure you didn't do it on purpose?" I asked. Sky looked thoughtful.

"There's an idea for pain tolerance…"

"Skylynn!"

"Kidding!" she replied with a laugh "But now that you mention it: in a fight, forget the pain because your opponent won't stop and wait until the pain goes away. He is going to make it go away by killing you, so I want to see you keep doing what you've been doing ever since we started. Every time you fell or got hit and got hurt, you just got back up, went forward and tried again. In all seriousness, this is not just a quality of a warrior, it's the quality of a leader. It's what every great leader does when they fail… they try again" and then, she walked away.

* * *

 **And here I am! I'm back! Sorry for the extremely long delay, but life can be hectic and it still is. Do not fear! I have about 3 or 4 more chapters ready after this and I'll post them in the following weeks. Let me know what you thought about this chapter, review, leave constructive criticism and I hope you have enjoyed it!  
**

 **See you next week!**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	32. Diplomatic Meetings

**Elsa's POV:**

When I saw the carriage arrive a little after sunset I came to realize how nervous I actually was. I vaguely remembered King Fredrick of Corona, I saw him a few times when I was little. I remember him and his wife being good friends with my parents. He was Princess Rapunzel's father and during her second short stay here, she told me about him and he sounded like a good man. Still the situation wasn't of the best. When he got out of the chariot he politely responded to our welcoming greetings, but both Anna and I could tell that he was in a serious mood. He was big man. Tall with blue eyes and dark brown hair and beard with some strands going grey. When he saw Skylynn, his expression changed. It wasn't of hatred, but it was distrustful, clearly not sure if he could trust her. Thankfully they both maintained a civil tone and conversation throughout a tense dinner. I glanced at Anna who would look at me feeling the ice in the air and not caused by me. The only time we addressed the _Oath of Balance_ was while having dessert, deciding to talk business in the morning. Sky was clearly dying to address the matter and get over it, but unlike what I was expecting, she maintained a calm composure and waited for me to mention it.  
There was only one person whom I would have wanted to have joined us in the dining room in that moment: Hans. I would have wanted him to listen and observe so that he could advise me for the upcoming morning.

When we all retired for the night, as I was about to enter my room, following Anna inside. Storm's voice stopped me. I was surprised to see him still up, since he hadn't attended dinner with us, not being supposed to, and it was quiet late as well. Anna seemed surprised as well, but then she grinned mischievously at me and got inside our room closing the door to give us privacy.

"How come are you still up?" I asked.

"I know you were busy, but I needed to talk to you for a moment and was waiting for you to retire" he said before taking a breath "I realize it's quite late, so I was hoping we could speak tomorrow" he suggested. It was then that my earlier thoughts came back to me. I didn't know how to approach the matter, but it had to be done. I respected him and had to be fair to him, the sooner we talked, the better.

"Actually… I wanted to speak with you too" I said seriously "Would you mind waiting for me in the library? I'll join you there as soon as the meeting is over. It's make or break tomorrow"

"Of course. I'll meet you there" he said taking my hand in his "Good luck for tomorrow, Elsa" he kissed the back of my hand "Goodnight"

"Thank you. Goodnight, Storm" he bowed his head and left, walking down the corridor where he came from. I got back inside my room only to find Anna, already under the covers, nonchalantly reading a book, failing miserably to pretend she wasn't dying to know what my suitor wanted to talk to me about. Thankfully she didn't press the matter. I went to change into my nightgown and headed to bed, taking my book to read a little before sleeping. I made myself comfortable under the covers and took the bookmark out, opening to the page I left. When I did, I found a small neatly folded paper in it, stuck in the book. I quietly glanced at Anna in the bed in front of mine, glad to see she was too immersed in her own read to pay attention to me. Hiding it with the book, I took out and opened the folded paper. My heart went beating twice as fast when I recognized the neat handwriting. I didn't bother asking myself how he got into my room, mainly because I didn't really care, it touched me to know he risked sneaking in here to leave me such a note.

 _Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.  
It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.  
Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.  
Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.  
Action is eloquence.  
Yours,  
Hans_

A short message made by quotes of none other than our beloved Shakespeare. It was enough to make a smile break on my face. They were words of advice, words of encouragement and he expressed them perfectly in the language we both admired. Thoughts of the lake came back into my mind, remembering the feeling of his light touch on my cheek, his heat and the comfort no matter the closeness, the feeling of being just a woman alone with a man and neither of us wearing a mask. I could feel my heart beating hard in my chest. I didn't dare to glance at Anna, otherwise guilt was going to stain the memory and make it bitter. I folded the paper and acting nonchalantly I opened the drawer of the nightstand and put it inside, before returning to my book, unable to conceal the soft smile on my lips.

* * *

When King Frederik entered my study followed by his advisor, the air thickened around us. I could sense Anna's uneasiness beside me, knowing what was going to happen. Skylynn's previous reassuring smile had gone cold, her lips in a thin line as she greeted the king. This time Storm was with us, as Sky's Commandant and his expression to had changed to a more serious one. He kept glancing between Sky and Frederik as if something was going to explode at any moment. As for me, my stomach was twisted in some unnatural knot, yet, I thought about Hans's note and his words, I remembered I was surrounded with people who supported me and that made the situation seem far more tolerable.

"Queen Elsa" King Frederik started addressing me first after Storm's and his advisor's brief introduction "I'll go straight to the point. You have asked me to annul the _Oath of Balance_ and I know that if you have decided to ask me as much to fight a kingdom like Weselton, I know it must not be without reason. This treaty was supposed to be a punishment, yet, it turned out to be far more helpful. For two centuries, my kingdom has prospered, my people have lived in peace and harmony. My home is an oasis of paradise untouched my war" he paused looking at me "I know that Drakora has a duty to help you, but Corona doesn't. I have deep respect towards your family and I want you to know that Corona will always welcome you and your fellow Arendellians with open arms. But my people comes first, so, please, give me a detailed explanation to _why_ I should give up my kingdom's neutrality for a battle that isn't ours…" he paused "and alongside a kingdom who has already tried to break this balance" he finished glancing straight towards Skylynn. I half expected her to promptly reply, instead she held his gaze before glancing at me to let me talk.

"King Frederik" I started "It is known that both Arendelle and Drakora have cut ties with Weselton. The Duke is moving war to us claiming that it is for the greater good. He is using ignorance to convince other kingdoms that I am a danger to the Fjordlands. I understand the consequences of the Eternal Winter I caused, but if I really were such monster, I wouldn't have purposely thawed this land and I would have already wiped his dukedom away in snow and ice. I am not a threat"

"That I know, Queen Elsa" he interjected.

"So does the Duke" I added "It is clear that is only an excuse to invade Arendelle. What he wants it's the kingdom and its resources. His ambassador was also bold enough to threaten Queen Skylynn in her own kingdom, that means that Drakora will be next"

"As I said numerous times before, my kingdom is rebuilding. If Arendelle falls and the Duke claims its army for himself, Drakora won't be able to make it" Skylynn said

"The Duke knows what I'm capable of. No matter how big his army is I could just freeze the water before they can even get near shore. If he dares as much he must have something to fight my magic, other than allies"

"Wait, Elsa-" my eyes snapped at Anna " _Queen_ Elsa" she corrected herself and I softened my gaze "Do you know who could be Weselton's allies?"

" _Dikabnis na kalbetso, Rahissa_?" Storm suddenly said in what I believe was Drakorian. **(Permission to speak, Queen?)** ** _  
_**Skylynn gave a short reply in the same language. I heard them speak their native language before and all I came to understand was that _Rahissa_ meant 'queen', but by the tone he probably asked Sky permission to say something. Storm looked between Anna and King Frederik.

"My resources say that certainly Weselton is allied with Meintank" he started "We also speculate that the Duke may have offered a deal to Shergan by taking advantage of their crisis. May that be the case, the smartest strategy would be to open a double front: one in Arendelle and one in Drakora. Princess Angel can take care of that front, but it will be nearly impossible to send reinforcements to the Arendellian front if it is required and viceversa" King Frederik nodded in understanding, then he turned back to me.

"Our point is: we need your help because if the Duke and his allies are to win this war, Corona is sure to be next" I said "Your home is wealthy and like mine, you haven't faced war for centuries. I won't blame you for wanting to keep the peace, but think about it. The Duke of Weselton is a greedy man, he will have to compromise with his allies if he wins, either way, you will eventually have to break the _Oath of Balance_ , if not to fight alongside us to defeat the Duke, it will be to defend your home… but if comes to that you'll have neither of us by your side" I said

"Oh? I thought we were being diplomatic, I wasn't expecting an ultimatum from you, Queen Elsa" King Frederik said. I felt Anna tense beside me, but I remained calm and kept my composure. King Frederik was testing me by voluntarily misinterpreting my words.

"It's not a threat, King Frederik" I said calmly "I'm stating facts. If we fall, we won't be able to assist you" His brown eyes glanced towards Skylynn and the queen held his gaze.

"Your rebel ships assaulted one of my trading vessels" he told her "You claim that is was the false king's strategy to have you lose the support of the Fjordland kingdoms. Your husband also said he would have made sure to give our lost goods back, yet Corona has seen none of it. All things considered, you could have just lied and taken advantage of our neutrality, having no intention of restoring our lost goods. So, why should I agree to support _you_ during this war, Queen Skylynn I of Drakora?"

"I understand how the situation looks, your Majesty" Skylynn started "But this was no ordinary war. It was a rebellion, a civil war. My kingdom was devastated, and the resources King Hugh had taken from you with that attack under our banner, Drakora's _real_ banner, are needed more to us than to you. Rebuilding takes time, but all things considered things are proceeding well and we will soon be able to repair the damage the usurper has done to you"

"How am I supposed to believe you? How do I know this isn't one of your tricks?" he said eyeing her suspiciously "You've made yourself known in the Fjorlands for your cunning mind, Queen Skylynn… other than your ruthlessness on the battlefield" he paused before glancing at her with an unreadable smirk "I heard that after posing as a supporter of King Hugh's reign, after claiming you knew where your husband's campsite was, you lured part of Hugh's forces into an ambush. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but that scar on your eyebrow you hide with your hair, it is quite strange" he paused "As if you inflicted it upon yourself on your own…" Anna and I shared a surprised look and I glanced at Skylynn, waiting for an explanation. I thought that scar indeed came from the war, but it never occurred to me that she might have caused it herself. The Coronan king wasn't done though.

"One of the stories I heard was that you and your loyal commander infiltrated one of your very own Drakorian nobleman's mansion, essential for strategic needs, but impossible to penetrate with an army. Commandant Ryder followed in the dark, while you opened the way after presenting yourself as a wounded peasant girl, your face hidden in a mask of blood" he narrated "The guards came to your aid and you killed them one by one, that night had been a massacre and then, you killed the nobleman after his plead of mercy and claimed his mansion as a headquarter for your rebel army"

"Stories really tend to become way more tragic than they actually are" Sky replied, cold and untouched by his words, but she moved her bangs to the side revealing her scar to the king so we all could see it clearly "This scar existed before the Drakorian war, I didn't inflict it upon myself… but I _did_ reopen it myself for that infiltration" she said before letting her hair fall in front of it "I won't deny that night had been a massacre, because it had, but Commandant Ryder and I didn't do everything ourselves. There were survivors that night. Commandant Ryder fired an arrow with our banner engraved on it to see the guards' reactions, unfortunately for them, they explicitly stated their hatred towards King Landon and we had to kill them using that trick before they could sound the alarm. Once we were inside, we revealed the armband with Drakora's crest and proceeded with the mission. Those who survived were the men and women who were forced to serve the usurper because their master did and threatened their lives and the lives of their loved ones if they dared show support for the rebels. The moment they saw our armband, they immediately joined forces with us. These people's loyalty was rewarded, their lives spared and those who died that night fighting alongside us received an honorable burial"

"And what about the enemies who survived the fight?" the king pressed "Did or did you not order their slaughter?"

"Yes, I did" Skylynn replied promptly "and it wasn't even a first" she added cynically. Anna and I glanced at one another shock written all over our faces. Anna knew about her, but clearly, she didn't know about the details of the war.

"I see you have no regrets of taking so many lives" he provoked, but Sky remained impassive.

"No, I don't"

"Even for those who were once your friends, but then decided to change side?"

"You _have_ been told that they let Hugh buy them with gold and power?"

"Still, they used to be your friends"

"Traitors who choose to be such on their own free will do not deserve mercy" she replied.

"And what about your traitor brother? Does this mercilessness apply everyone but your family? Is this how your rule works?" the moment King Frederik spoke those words ice ruled inside the room. For a moment, I thought Skylynn was going to draw her sword and kill him on the spot. Even Storm tensed and looked at Skylynn, whose expression became hard and full of rage. He looked like he was going to hold still of her at any moment, but she didn't move a muscle, surprising us again when she spoke once more, her voice in a calm scolding.

"I am here to speak about peace and an alliance between our kingdoms to protect our peoples. You claim to want to keep the peace, yet, with such talk you seem to be wanting to make an enemy out of Drakora and myself. I don't question your rule… so _don't_ question mine. But if you must know: my brother's actions were brought by despair. You seem to be a sensible man, King Frederik, I am sure you'll agree with me when I say that despair blinds reason. All acts of treason committed due to despair or forced upon someone have been pardoned in Drakora. If you don't believe me, feel free to ask any drakorian"

"You can be certain I will. But know that in order to make the decision of giving up Corona's lasting peace and neutrality to trust _you_ in a battle that doesn't concern us I need more than that, former Queen **_Consort_** of Drakora" the king said. At hearing the title she had before her husband's death Skylynn tensed, the message clear as day to us all. Storm's hand had quickly inched forward as if to grab her before she could lunge at him. Unexpectedly, for the sake of diplomacy, she remained calm, but that didn't mean I was going to look over such an accusation.

"That's quite enough, King Frederik. This is not something I can accept in a meeting such as this" I interrupted "Your Majesty, I understand your doubts and worries, and I appreciate it because in my eyes this confirms that you are a ruler who I believe you to be: attentive and scrupulous towards his people's needs, just like me. If you need to be reassured, your Majesty, allow me to remind you that there isn't just an ordinary young ruler standing before your eyes, you are in the presence of the Snow Queen: the one who could easily take care of Weselton's aggression with just a snap of her fingers… but that is not how I want it to be. Here and now, I am the Queen of Arendelle and I am speaking to King Frederik and Queen Skylynn to find the most convenient agreement for all of us in order to guarantee our kingdoms' protection. Therefore, here is my proposal: in exchange of your military support and the renunciation of your neutrality, Arendelle shall accept your requests regarding our trading agreements as for Drakora, Queen Skylynn is willing to give you that Wessel territory that, in case of victory, shall become Drakora's protectorate" I paused and glanced between the two rulers "Now, I hope my words have removed any doubt and have strengthened the trust between us. If you need some time to make up your mind, I can give you a couple of days" King Frederik remained quiet for a moment, looking between me and Skylynn.

"I appreciate your offer, Queen Elsa, but with all due respect, Queen Skylynn: I lend you my men and you _yield_ me part of a kingdom?" he said unsure "I'm sorry but it sounds a little too good for me and too much of a disadvantage for you. Why would you do that?"

"As I said earlier to Queen Elsa: only fools desire a kingdom so big that they can't control" Skylynn said coldly, just like she told me "Besides, consider it a restoration of your lost goods"

"And what about your rebuilding process? Wouldn't Weselton's goods help you?" he pressed on.

"Thank you for the concern, King Frederik, but with all due respect, how I manage Drakora's economy doesn't regard either of you" she said glancing at us both "This is my offer to you for the peace treaties along with entering the Draxtes- Arendelle City Axis. You have my word" King Frederik glanced at us both. Then he looked towards his advisor who seemed to be already thinking hard over our proposal.

"I'll take these two days' time to think about this. I'll give you my answer soon" the king said. With that, the meeting was over and the Coronan king and his advisor walked out of the room. We all let out a breath we didn't know we were keeping, glad that the meeting had turned out like this. It might have gone worse.

"Well, at least he's thinking about it" Anna said, trying to lighten the mood. I gave her a tiny smile, but then my eyes set upon Skylynn who was looking more frustrated than relieved. Apart from Storm, none of us knew the details of that war and although I trusted her with my life, it scared me to think that she could be capable of such ruthlessness and talk about it in such a detached and unemotional way like she did earlier.

"A penny for your thoughts?" I asked her. Her silver eyes glanced back at me and she remained quiet before turning to Storm.

"Princess Anna, Commandant Ryder, would you mind giving us a moment?" she asked. Anna looked at me worriedly and I gave her a nod of the head. Storm gave us a bow and walked to the door, opening it for Anna. My sister hesitated a moment as she gave my arm an affectionate squeeze.

"You were amazing" she whispered in my ear and walked out of the door, with Storm following her outside, his next destination probably being the library. When Skylynn and I remained alone, I waited for her reply.

"This meeting went far from well" she said "It could have gone worse, but King Frederik clearly doesn't want to have anything to do with _me_ not Drakora. He thinks me unworthy of being on the throne and is using that incident as an excuse. He knows how economy works, he knows these things take time. The truth is that he thinks me a power-hungry lunatic because of how I ascended to the throne, my humble youth and who my paternal family is"

"He doesn't know you, Skylynn and to be frank, you're not exactly the easiest person to read. Not to mention your backgrounds: he's ruled for years, you only did so for two, he comes from royalty, you climbed your way up, he inherited a throne, you earned it-"

"He doesn't believe that, Elsa. He just accused me of assassinating my own husband! He thinks I orchestrated the assault to get the crown and got away with it!"

"Maybe he only speaks like that because he doesn't know the Drakorian laws"

"Still if he believes _that_ , how is he supposed to believe he won't one day find my sword through his back? The only logical thing he said was that in order to take part in a war that doesn't regard his kingdom he needs to gain something out of it. Alliances do not exist without trust. Even if he is to agree and support us during the war, if he doesn't believe we all have each other's back, that piece of paper will mean _nothing_ " she added. I remained quiet for a moment, but before I could speak up, Sky preceded me. "Look, I need to cool off. I'll see you later at the barracks for training" with that she took off and walked out of the door, not before halting on the door and turning around when I called her.

"Skylynn" I called, getting her attention. Her silver orbs meeting my gaze "Thank you for keeping it together. I realize King Frederik was touching personal sore spots" she cracked a smile.

"Thank _you_ for speaking like a real queen" she replied. Then she walked out too.

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. I opened my drawer and took out the document I now hoped King Frederik was going to sign. I put it back away and taking a clean paper, I started writing down a report of what happened today. If King Frederik wanted safety, then he was going to get safety. Usually, I would have either Kai or one of my ministers do this, but in such delicate matters, I preferred to do the records myself. It didn't really take me much, since not too many relevant things have been said. Once I was done, I signed it and put it back in the drawer. Now, I needed to talk to Storm. I walked out of my study and through the corridors, my mind racing on how to talk to him and address the matter at hand, not sure of how he was going to take it. Part of me was hoping that Storm would be okay with it, I didn't want to hurt him. He was a nice man. I was a couple of corridors away from the library when I heard Hans and Skylynn's voice, talking in hushed tones.

"…You need to work as a team. You need to talk to him and make things right" Hans said gently to her. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but she was going to hear it from me if Sky talked to her brother about the meeting. I can't forget that he is not a prince anymore. Hans is not entitled to know about political matters, unless I say so. So, I neared the corner and listened in quietly.

"There's nothing to talk about anymore, Hans" Skylynn replied "I lost him, for good now…"

"Because you succeeded in pushing him away" Hans said "You broke his heart again and I know that this time it's not because of Landon. You might have fooled him, but you can't fool me or yourself, Sky" I heard Hans pause and I quietly leaned forward just enough to peek. Both had a saddened look on their faces, Hans's features were soft "It's about Elsa, isn't it?", now he had my full attention. Sky sighed.

"Yes, it's about her" Skylynn said in a quiet voice "She's my friend. She's like a sister to me… I won't betray her like that" then her stare hardened "And even if it weren't, what about my people? What would they see in me then?"

"At least you admitted the Elsa part, when will you admit the other half of the truth?" he pressed on.

"My kingdom comes first; my feelings don't matter" she said and walked away from him, heading to the barracks. Hans sighed shaking his head and taking his bucket with work tools he entered the room beside him. If earlier I was hesitating in doing what I intended to do, now I was far more motivated to do it, for all of us. Faster than before, my feet brought me into the library where Storm was waiting for me. He was sitting at a table, peaking at a book Anna or Kristoff probably forgot to put away. I took a deep breath and closed the door behind me.

* * *

 **Diplomatic talks didn't really go as planned, have they? And look! Elsa is going to have a chat with Storm. How do you think he is going to take it? Do you think that was the reason why he wanted to talk to her? How do you think the next talks will go? How do you think Elsa's training will proceed? Let me know with your reviews and I'll see you next week!  
**

 **Bye!**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	33. Surprise!

**Elsa's POV:**

Storm's blue eyes lifted up from the book he was glancing at and met mine. For the first time ever, he gave me the shiest smile I ever saw him wear and stood up from his seat, walking towards me. His greeting was as casual and welcoming as usual, but his voice betrayed him. He broke the awkwardness momentarily, by commenting on how the meeting had been intense, but didn't ask about my private talk with his queen. The first thing he did was compliment me for how I managed to ease the tension and get us back to the point. I was glad to hear it, but I was there for another reason.

"Well" he started after he complimented me "I believe we both wanted to see each other today because we had something important to say" Storm said "Please, Elsa" he invited me to go first. I gave him a small smile and took another breath, collecting my thoughts "By the looks of it, it is very important to you" he said. He was sweet as always, knowing exactly what to say. I couldn't stop myself when I brought my hand up to caress his stubbly cheek, keeping it there for a moment, stroking it with my thumb. He didn't pull back, instead he seemed to relax into my touch, but when his eyes glanced down, I saw a strange shadow pass right through it. I let my hand fall from his face.

"I've been thinking while you were gone" I started "And then I started thinking even harder when you came back" I continued walking towards the window. Storm following behind me, I could feel his eyes on me "Storm, you are an amazing guy and I'd be lying if I said that I never thought about you and me in the future… together… _married_. I am fond of you and I respect you deeply…" I took a breath "Exactly because of how much I care and respect you, I have to be honest with you… You've been the first man to sincerely show interest in _me_ and not my crown and I won't deny that I liked it, especially when my powers weren't an issue. You gave me hope that my magic might not always be an obstacle… but the way I feel about you should have changed by now and it did… but not how it was hoping it would" I paused "I'm afraid friendship is all I can offer you, Storm… This courtship is over. I'm sorry" There, I said it looking at him straight in the eyes. Storm blinked, then shocked me when his lips twitched into a smile, he breathed a sigh of relief, pinching the bridge of his nose. Then a soft chuckle escaped his lips.

"God- you have no idea how glad I am we're on the same page!" he said.

"Wait-what?!" confusion written all over me. From what I heard, I knew he had feelings for Skylynn, but after having recently received a second rejection and me breaking off the courtship, I was expecting him to be angry.

"Friendship is all I can offer to you too, Elsa" he said "I didn't know how to tell you after we started courting because you are the queen and I, a mere soldier, rejecting _you_ … I know that can be considered an insult. I too hoped that what we have would have changed in something more, but it didn't and believe me when I say that I understand why you too tried to keep our courtship going. Just like I am to you, you too reflect my ideal of a perfect spouse… but love's not perfect is it? If the sparks don't happen… then it's just not meant to be… and it wouldn't be fair to you to keep you tied to me" his words brought a smile to my face, but then I had to let him know.

"Same goes for me. I can't keep you bound to me either. You love Skylynn, I know that" I said, then thought about it "Something tells me you've been in love with her for a while, too. I'm inexperienced, not blind, I notice things… the looks, the chemistry, your warrior connection, how you mention one another…" I added with a smile. I wasn't going to tell him how I got my confirmation, though. Instead of reassuring him, Storm looked like he felt ashamed and guilty.

"Elsa, I-"

"-Storm, don't apologize. I am sure nothing actually happened"

"But it could have, Elsa! If Skylynn hadn't rejected me it _would_ have happened" he interrupted "I tried to kiss Skylynn, while you were two days of sailing away, when I was in a courtship with you! _That_ is not fair to you and it makes me feel like a jerk because you are a wonderful person, Elsa and you don't deserve that kind of crap!" he explained

"Well, you shouldn't apologize because I did the same thing!" then I slapped a hand on my mouth. Storm fell quiet, but he looked at me inquisitively. Truth was out, so I might as well tell him how it ended "We... rejected one another, and we both know that nothing can ever happen... but it doesn't change the fact that I too had an attraction for another man while you were gone…" I confessed. Then I waited for a reaction and once again, Storm lightly smiled.

"Wow, either Fate is against us or we're really bad at picking people whom we give our affections to" Storm said, and I froze in place realizing I talked too much "So it _was_ Hans" he said as if getting confirmation "By the way, he didn't tell me. I got the idea because when he gave me an earful regarding my intentions he seemed to be more concerned about you than his sister" he added, jokingly and that brought a small smile to my face. Then I glanced back at him.

"I'm sorry" I said meeting his eyes.

"I accept your apology only if you accept mine" he replied with a warm smile.

"Alright" I agreed with a small laugh "Friends?"

"Friends" he agreed and opened his arms for me. I did not hesitate and stepped into his embrace, wrapping my arms around his waist as his strong ones held me close into a warm hug. I nestled my head on his chest and felt Storm slightly lean down to place his chin on top of my head. We really needed this talk and we needed this hug, not just to relieve the tension, but because we were lucky to have one another.

"Elsa" he called gently. I hummed a response "You know my feelings for Sky… do _you_ love Hans?" I responded with a sardonic laugh.

" _Love_? I don't even _know_ what love is" I replied, "I learned that it is putting other's needs before your own, but I'm starting to believe that that is only one of its many faces. I had an attraction towards him… but that's all that is going to ever be. I haven't forgiven him and I haven't forgotten" Storm didn't say anything, instead he tightened his arms around me and kissed the top of my head.

"Storm" I called and he now hummed a response "Don't give up on her. I don't know what Sky told you but-" I lifted my head to look up at him "-Sometimes, when you are deeply afraid of something you tend to push away the people you mostly care about and the more you know them the easier it is to do it… but it is also very painful. Perhaps, in your case, not all hope is lost" He didn't reply, but his face was thoughtful. Then he stroked my hair and pulled away from the embrace.

"Thank you, Elsa" was all he replied with a smile "I'm so glad we had this talk. Unfortunately, I need to get going. I have training with our men"

"And I have to change for training with Sky" I replied. Storm raised an eyebrow.

"In that case…" he walked beside me and offered me his arm "Would you mind if walked you to your quarters?" I smiled and linked my arm around his.

"Not at all" I replied and together we walked out of the library, but before we could open the door I stopped him for a moment. I knew I didn't need to tell him, but I felt like I had to "Storm, about what happened with Hans… you're the only one who knows…"

"I thought so, you both know what's at risk. I suppose that is also why you both stopped" he said, perceptive as always.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone" I asked, "No one can know… especially Anna" I added glancing into his eyes.

"Of course, Elsa. I swear on my life" he responded gently "You didn't even need to ask" I smiled back at him and we walked out of the room.

* * *

"YOU DID **_WHAT_**?!" Anna shouted following behind me. The servants glanced at us with surprised looks.

"Keep it down! Gosh!" I complained as I walked through the corridor that would take me to the barracks.

"You broke off the courtship with Storm?! _Why?!_ I thought you liked him!" Anna said strutting behind me.

"And I do-"

"- Then I don't get it! Elsa, he was _perfect_ for you!"

"When is love ever perfect, Anna? Even you and Kristoff have your differences" I said walking down the staircase.

"In _your_ case it was! How could you refuse a marriage proposal like _that_?! Storm is basically every woman's dream! He's handsome, he's smart, he's brave and tall and polite and charming and loyal and respectful-"

"-Anna, if you like Storm so much _you_ can marry him" I said whipping around with a smile, causing Anna to almost bump into me "Besides, who said anything about a marriage proposal?" I added.

"Wait- what?" Anna fumbled, confusion all over her face "I… I thought… Didn't he want to talk to you because he was going to propose?" I let a small laugh escape my lips.

"No, Anna" I said "Actually he was really embarrassed… the feeling is mutual. We tried, but if there are no sparks, there's not much you can do about it, can you?" Anna looked thoughtful.

"Well… no… so you two are just friends now?" she asked.

"Yes, just friends. I'm fond of him and I respect him a lot, but that's all we can offer one another" I explained.

"Oh…" Anna looked to the ground.

"You look like _your_ courtship was broken off, what's going on?" I asked smiling, caressing her face with my hand.

"I'm just feeling like it is Mr. Bingley leaving Jane Bennet all over again, I'll get over it" she said with a dramatic sniff, making me laugh. She was such a sweetheart, and to think she didn't want to read _Pride and Prejudice._

"You do remember that they get married in the end, don't you?" I said with a tiny smile. Anna quirked back up with a cheerful grin, almost hopping off the ground.

"Yes! And it's exactly what I'm hoping for!" she said playfully clapping her hands together "But, in all seriousness, as long as you're happy, I'm happy, whatever you choose, whoever he may be. All that matters is that you love him and he loves you" she said with a warm smile. Once again, her words reminded me of the lake and Hans. It made my stomach turn in a way that felt both good and bad. If Anna knew then she wouldn't be saying that. I forced my lips to keep the smile I had and wrapped my arms around her. Anna giggled holding me close.

"I should go, or Sky will have me run around the castle barefoot" I said pulling away.

"Can I come see you?" Anna asked curiously.

"You have another duty" I said "I want you and Kristoff to go around town and see how the people are doing. Talk to them, listen to them if they have questions and answer, but try to reassure them. Our people can't panic, if anyone asks you about my training, just tell them that I'm doing my best"

"Sure, Elsa"

"I'll see you later" with that, we went our own separate ways. The only thing I managed to do throughout the day, had been training with Skylynn and try to keep the peace between King Frederik and Skylynn. Surprisingly enough, it had been easier than I thought it would. I only saw him walk around the barracks and exchange a few words with Sky before he disappeared for the whole day. There had been no trace of King Frederik until dinner time. I suspected he was doing his own research and debating with his advisor whether giving up neutrality and help us is a good or a bad idea. I realized it was best not to approach him and give him time to think. I just hoped that if he had indeed gone around Arendelle and the barracks to talk to both my people and the Drakorians, he got the answers he needed to come to our aid.

* * *

My training was getting boring, yesterday too, I spent about 4 hours running around the course and doing exercises that never once consisted in using a weapon. I made my way towards the training grounds hoping that things would change today. King Frederik was nowhere to be seen, except for lunch and dinner, yesterday, but other than that, he had vanished once more. I just hoped that we would get our response today. The moment I finally reached the barracks and on my way to the usual arena, I saw Skylynn in the one before ours as she sparred with her troops. Every now and then she would bark some drakorian at them and her soldiers intensified their fight, moving faster, their thrusts more powerful and they did not seem to get tired. They acted like machines, Sky gave the command and they executed. After a minute of fighting among groups of five, Skylynn said something that made them stop fighting. She was breathing heavily from the fighting, but nevertheless, spoke with her voice strong in that language I was really starting to want to learn. Her men responded with something that seemed to be a 'yes, Queen Skylynn' and were dismissed.  
I walked to my friend as she was drinking some water from her canteen before splashing some of it on her sweaty face. Just then I realized how her attire was different. I saw her spar before, but she usually did it her uniform without her jacket on. This time she wore a sleeveless, black, V-neck shirt, black sash around the waist to keep the shirt tucked into her black pants, black boots and black leather wrist-guards. Her sheathed sword tied to her belt above the sash. Usually we would train in the afternoon, after her morning training with her soldiers, maybe that's why I never saw her wear that.

"I see a change in fashion today!" I greeted, walking to her "What's the occasion?"

"I see you decided to show up on time, today! What's the occasion?" she mocked.

"Are you serious?! I'm ' _late'_ of about three seconds!" I complained.

"Three seconds or three hours, late is late!" she responded taking her canteen with her "And this is my actual training attire for sparring" she added walking past me and towards the arena with all the obstacles along the course.

"Speaking about sparring, when are we going to work with swords or spears? I saw you with both" I asked following her "Or are you planning on having me run around as bait?" Skylynn finally cracked a smile, but then looked at me as if I were a miserable idiot.

"You are not ready for a sword… or any kind of weapon for that matter" she replied.

"But we've been doing the same things for 4 hours a day for the past two and a half weeks! We only have a few short months before the war. How do you expect me to master any weapon in such brief time if we waste it by having me run around an obstacle course?"

"And if this war was fought with complaints you'd be more than ready to go!" Skylynn replied, earning a glare from me. She halted her pace and turned to face me "Elsa, if you want a chance at survival, you need endurance and frankly, you should have seen for yourself from your late performances that just because you're lean it doesn't mean you're in shape. You made progress and being light helps, but I know that right now, the moment you pick up a sword you'll tire yourself out helplessly. Besides, wasn't our first sparring round demonstration enough? And I was really easy on you"

"On our first sparring round, you basically threw your sword at me and I hadn't started training this intensely" I replied "Let me try! I'll show you I'm ready" I said. Skylynn rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Fine" she replied and turned back around to the previous arena. I couldn't help but have a small smile on my face as I followed her. Skylynn went to take a sword and handed it to me.

"Don't go easy. Tire me out. Do your worst. I'll give you endurance" I challenged.

"I intend to do so" she replied drawing her sword and placing her right arm behind her back after I took the sword. The moment I did, I remembered how heavy it actually was and suddenly felt my muscles' training tiredness run up my arm and even down my side. In two and a half weeks, I had two days of rest, one at distance of a week. Skylynn just stood there waiting, a calculating look on her face as her eyes analyzed me from head to toe.

"Do you know how that thing works?" she asked with a patient voice and an unconvinced look. I looked at my weapon.

"The pointy end goes into the guy attacking me" I responded. Silently hoping that I didn't have to get to that. Skylynn didn't seem too impressed with my answer though.

"Whenever you want" she responded, so I did what she wanted me to do: I attacked… and -boy!- did I regret it…

Skylynn effortlessly raised the sword and blocked my blow before grabbing my elbow and twisted it to flip me onto the ground, knocking the wind out of me.

"You're slow" she stated flatly. I quickly got up, held the sword with both hands and struck again. Skylynn barely deflected the hit, moved to the side and stuck out her foot sending me flying face first to the ground.

"You're heavy" she added with the same monotone voice, walking around me. Once again I got up and attacked, not caring if she was giving me her back. In fact she turned around and blocked the hit with her blade touching the hilt of my sword, then as quick as lightning, she reached out to my shoulder with her arm right under my chin and before I could react, she pushed on the sword with her left hand and pulled my body towards her with her right hand. The back of my knees found her leg, rooted to the soil, and once again I was thrown on the ground.

"You're predictable" she added flatly to the list. I started breathing heavily. It made me go nuts knowing that Skylynn had just finished a training session that started at 5a.m. this morning and she had just sent me flying three times onto the ground. She should be way more tired! She was still panting before we started this! I grabbed the sword again and got back on my feet. Skylynn stood in front of me.

"Try a lunge" she instructed.

"You do know that if you make a mistake I could kill you, right?" I asked unsure if I heard it correctly. Skylynn raised an eyebrow as if saying _'Really?_ ', so I obeyed and lunged. She quickly sidestepped out of the way, but grabbed my armed arm and twisted it, kneeling. I went down on my knees with her as she used her leg both as an anchor and for leverage, twisting my arm even more so that I soon had to drop my weapon. The moment I did, Sky let me go, pointing the sword at my throat, but didn't say a word, just looked at me smugly and stepped away.

"Dragging" she noted and waited for me to get up "You done fooling around?" she taunted, I didn't respond and got back on guard, taking my sword, panting and aching. Sky sighed "Fine…" and then came my ruin. She attacked me, heavily and all I could do was back away and put my sword out to defend myself. I wasn't even looking at what she did, all I knew was that Skylynn was going full-blown-alpha on me and I needed to defend myself without using my magic. All I was doing was hop back to dodged or thrust my sword out and hear the clanking sound of metal followed by my sword bouncing back at me. I tried to counterattack but the result was the taller queen blocking the hit crossing swords and knee me in the stomach. Air fled from my lungs the moment her knee made contact, but she didn't just cross our swords. In order to knee me, she had her blade slide around mine and let go of it to grab my outstretched wrist as her free hand went upon my neck to have me bend to her knee. In a flash, her right hand went over my head and under my throat, the leg that hit me behind my knee making me fall on my back. In a moment I was on the ground gasping for air with Skylynn kneeled upon me, with my arm tucked between her arm and her side, and her sword under my neck.

"Do you believe me now?" she asked with no smile on her face. My stomach hurt, and I was breathing hard for both the hit and the tiredness. I couldn't even form a 'yes' to respond so I lightly shook my head. She now smirked and got off me. I still remained on the ground coughing as I steadied my breathing, my abdomen still in pain, as Skylynn just sheathed her sword as if I wasn't even laying in front of her. I noticed a few bystanders around us look at me concerned. Two arendellian soldiers took a few steps towards me to come to my aid, but I quickly raised my hand, signaling them to stop. They shared a look and backed away. I was not going to have a babysitter help me up. With a last cough, I got on my knees to stand up, my hand clutching my abdomen. _Dang it! She got me good!_

"I kneed you on your solar plexus" she said before I could get back up "The moment you see a hit to your stomach, contract your muscles, it can save your life. A blow with enough force on that spot can kill you" then she offered me her hand "But at least you didn't give up right away" she added.

"I _really_ don't like you sometimes" I commented and took her hand, getting back on my feet, massaging the aching spot on my stomach. "Résumé of my performance, coach?"

"You sucked"

"Thought so. A little more details?"

"You're still too slow, your movements are heavy and you drag your feet. Your footwork was nowhere to be seen. The only positive thing is that you have good reflexes, but the moment one does something that surprises you, you shut off your reaction senses. And of course, you get tired immediately. You're not ready for a sword yet" she said. I huffed, but knew she was right.

"Okay… let's get back to the course" I said. Sky smiled, but before we could walk towards our usual arena, I heard a man call us both in a thick Drakorian accent. Skylynn took a longer step preceding me speaking to him in their language. The man looked troubled, he responded her saying something that regarded Storm, or _Khommannfort Ryder_ (I learned that to mean _'Commandant_ Ryder'), and gave her a small rolled up envelope. Skylynn read the paper. Her silver eyes had a look I did not like. When she was done reading, her head snapped back up and she ordered something to her man, making Storm's name again. The soldier saluted and ran off, maybe to look for or refer something to Storm.

"What's going on?" I asked. She rolled up the message and started to walk towards the inside of the castle.

"Have someone go call King Frederik, Anna and Hans. Tell them to meet us in your study" she said as she stalked away, me following beside her.

"Skylynn, what's going on? What does the message say and why do you want Hans to join us?" I asked seriously. Her reply was the worst thing she could have ever told me.

"The Southern Isles are joining Weselton against us"

* * *

 **DUH-DUH-DUUUUHHH! Ouch! That is bad news! What do you think will happen next? How do you think the training is going? Will Storm get the girl and Elsa get the guy anytime soon? Was any of you kind of shipping Elsa with Storm? Thoughts on their "break up"? What do you think will happen next?  
Let me know with your reviews!  
**

 **Happy Easter!**

 **See you next week!**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	34. Revelations

**Anna's POV:**

Something bad must have happened, otherwise Elsa wouldn't have had me, and King Frederik called and most of all, neither she or Sky would show up on an official meeting in their training clothes unless it was urgent. I met up with Storm just a few feet away from the door. He told me Sky had him called, so whatever it was, it was big. What I was not prepared for was entering the room with Storm and finding Hans standing between Elsa and his sister.

"Why is _he_ here?" were the first words that tumbled out of my mouth.

"Exactly what I asked when I got in" King Frederik supported.

"Princess Anna, King Frederik, not now" Elsa interjected. Just then I took in her face. Saying she looked upset was an understatement, she was distressed, and her head was clearly trying to come to some sort of realization or solution.

"What's going on? Why did you have us all be called and why is Hans here too?" I asked my sister. Elsa didn't reply to me, but glanced at Skylynn who looked just as troubled, with her arms crossed and silver eyes thinking of something. She clutched a small piece of paper between her fingers. Her eyes met Elsa's and Storm's, then she spoke up.

"News from Commandant Ryder's spies in the south just came in" she started "The Southern Isles are joining Weselton. They've decided to enter the war"

"What?!- Are you serious?!Why?!- They refused the alliance!" my voice, the king's and Hans's blended together in a mixture of shock and astonishment. This was _not_ good. I had talked to Elsa about the upcoming war. I had asked her what she would want me to do when the time comes. I wanted to help her. All she replied was to stay safe, help keep the people safe and step in if she is not to make it. But now that the Southern Isles were against us too, I couldn't just stay back and do nothing.

"They _did_ refuse the alliance, but now they decided to join it" Elsa said.

"Why? Arendelle never did anything to the Isles" Hans said "If anything, it should be the other way around" he added, his eyes falling to the ground as he felt all our gazes upon him. For a moment I thought he was acting, but there was something in his eyes and the way he asked, his prompt reaction… for a moment I believed he might have not had anything to do with it.

"Exactly. That's why Queen Skylynn wanted to talk to us privately" Elsa said, all eyes set on the drakorian queen. She glanced at her brother who looked back expectantly.

"King Theodore has been assassinated" she revealed. Hans caught his breath as she uttered those words and ran a hand through his hair.

" _Assassinated_?!" I exclaimed.

"Do they know who did it?" Hans asked.

"An arendellian hitman who was not caught" his sister said

"What?!" this time it was both me, Elsa and the king who exclaimed that "How do they know he was arendellian?" I asked shocked "It could be anyone"

"They found a dagger, next to the body with Arendelle's crest carved in its hilt" Storm added.

"I really hope you have an explanation for this, Queen Elsa" King Frederik said, his arms crossed and eyes inquisitive. _What the-?!_

"No. I do _not_ , King Frederick" Elsa replied, this time with that firm voice I only heard her use at the hippodrome attack and when she scolded me in front of the ministers "I'm just as shocked as you are. All I know, is that I haven't sent anyone. We're facing a war and ordering the assassination of a ruler, who preferred _not_ to take part in it, is plain stupid. I don't know about you, but that is not how I make allies"

"Mine wasn't an accusation, young queen. I'm sorry it came out that way" he apologized "I'm sure you don't have anything to do with this, but I hoped you had an idea of why there was an arendellian dagger beside the victim"

"Still what I said: it could be anyone" I responded "We have blacksmiths. It's not hard to buy an arendellian blade and take it with you, especially a dagger. We didn't send any hitmen so… I honestly have no idea of what the heck is going on in the Isles and why would someone make the assassination look like it came from Arendelle" Silence followed my words. I was expecting Elsa to say something or Sky, or Storm, or even Hans for that matter, but after those few seconds, I glanced at the Westerguard siblings and immediately felt guilty when I saw my sister's gaze on them and their quietness. I had forgotten that the king of the Southern Isles was their eldest brother. I remembered they didn't have a good relationship, but still… a brother is a brother. Either way, no one said anything. We were supposed to be talking about politics and what to do.

"Queen Skylynn, Hans" Storm called taking an envelope out of his jacket pocket "I'm afraid _this_ is the 'right time' I must give you this"

"Now?" Sky said a little surprised by the timing

"What is it?" Hans asked as Skylynn took the envelope.

"A letter from your father for the both of you" Storm said "I know this seems like an awful timing, but something tells me that your father saw something like this coming and in case it happened to him, he might have written down something he wanted you to know" we all watched as Skylynn opened the envelope and started reading it's contents with a skeptical look in her eyes. Silence filled the room as we all hoped the letter contained something that could help us figure out what happened. The siblings' expressions suddenly changed. Curiosity left space to confusion then followed by shock. They had suddenly both gone pale as they read and finished the contents of the letter.

"Oh my God… Hans, did… did you know?" Skylynn asked, shock, bewilderment, confusion, a hundred emotions going through her eyes.

"No" was her brother's response "No...", Hans's eyes were blank, as if he had completely shut off.

"Hans, Skylynn what does it say? Does it have any clues on who might have ordered the assassination?" Elsa asked. Skylynn didn't respond, she just said something in Drakorian and walked out of the study, ignoring Elsa's calls and putting the paper in my hands on her way out.

"Read it" was all she said and walked away. Storm seemed to want to go after her but stopped. She had probably told him to stay.

"Queen Elsa, may be excused for a moment? I need to talk to my sister. Please?" Hans asked, with such a fragile and shaken voice I never thought I would hear come out of his mouth. Even Elsa and King Frederick seemed surprised by the sudden change in their demeanor.

"Yes, sure" Elsa responded.

"Thank you" and with that he didn't even bother to bow and walked out of the door. We all looked at one another, all of us with one simple sentence. What was in that letter that shook them up so much? I opened the paper and cleared my throat.

"Well, Queen Skylynn said to read it" I said

" _My dear children, if you are reading this, then it means that the time has come for you to know the truth. Maybe I should have told you about this long ago, but at the time, I thought it would have been better for you both not to know. Not for your safety, but because I wanted you to grow into the people I hoped you would be._

 _Hans, I have to apologize to you. I have been blind, I didn't want to believe that your own brothers would work against you. When I made the following document, told them about it but kept you and your sister in the dark. They weren't acting as they should have and this was supposed to be a lesson for them and a reward for you. I hoped for them to understand, change their attitude and help you along the way. Take you under their wing, understanding their responsibility. Instead they did the exact opposite, they led you down the wrong path and I did nothing to save you. For that I am sorry and hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me someday. Maybe if I had told you about this document, you would have had something else to fight for and be the man I know you to be._

 _Skylynn, I apologize to you too. I have been non-existent and made you suffer just as much as your brother. You've grown into a beautiful, strong woman and I couldn't be any prouder. No matter what, you're my daughter and I hope that this document will make you understand why I had to do what I did._

 _Love,_

 _Your father"_ I paused looking at the others, who glanced back at me. I put the front paper back and began reading. The first thing I noticed was the date. It went back to 12 years ago, exactly the day when King Albert abdicated the throne, because of the 'scandal'. Then I noticed the title and the seal below

"Oh my God! This is the original official document of King Albert's abdication" I said showing it to the others

"Why would he send them the original copy of the official abdication document?" Frederick asked.

"More likely, what is it that they didn't know?" Storm said, just as confused as we were.

"Keep on reading, Anna" Elsa asked, and I started reading out loud once again. Nothing shocking at first, it was a typical abdication paper in which the king said the reasons why he was to abdicate and bureaucratic stuff. The interesting part was the end as I kept on reading

" _…_ _therefore the Southern Isles' crown is to be temporally passed down to my eldest son, Prince Theodore Westerguard of the Southern Isles-_ Wait a minute- **_Temporally_**?! Does that mean that…? _"_

"Theodore wasn't actually the king" Elsa noted in understanding. King Frederick nodded in the same way

"He was the _regent_ " he repeated. I went back to reading.

" _\- to my eldest son, Prince Theodore Westerguard of the Southern Isles, who shall maintain the stability of the kingdom until my chosen heir shall ascend the throne. I hereby declare that my worthy successor and future king of the Southern Isles is -_ OH MY GOD!" I shouted as my eyes saw the name, popping out of their sockets.

"For Heaven's sake, Princess! Just tell us, already!" Storm erupted frustrated.

 _"_ _-is Prince Hans Westerguard of the Southern Isles_ " I read.

"What?!" King Frederick chorused with Storm, while Elsa was at loss of words.

"Hans was the _actual_ heir to the Southern Isles' throne?!" Storm exclaimed.

"And that's not it, listen to this" I added

" _Prince Hans is to ascend the throne at the age of twenty-and-five. If in the coming years Prince Hans is to tarnish his name and honor with grave and treacherous acts, revealing himself unworthy of the crown, before his twenty-fifth birthday, he shall lose his right to the throne. If Prince Hans is to lose said right, the crown is to be immediately passed onto to my only daughter: Princess Skylynn Engel-Westerguard of the Southern Isles. In case of their early demise, the crown shall go to my most worthy son or grandchild and follow the line of succession"_ I finished and glanced at the others. Storm kept glancing at the door, clearly wanting to go out and check on his queen, now that he knew too. Elsa closed her eyes taking a few breaths, running a hand though her hair.

"A rather… interesting discovery" Frederick said.

"No wonder they were both so shocked" Elsa commented.

"Do you think they really didn't know?" the king asked.

"I knew the former prince a few years before his treachery" Storm said "If he knew, he wouldn't have succumbed to his brothers' abuse"

"It's not the ex-prince I'm worried about, it's your Queen" Frederick said eyeing the Commandant. Storm's blue eyes darkened, and eyebrows furrowed.

"Please, make your statement clearer. I'm not sure I understood" he said, eyeing him.

"You're a smart young man and your English is fluent, I'm sure you understood quiet well" he responded seriously "I'm referring to this assassination. You had this document all along, you were in contact with her father. We all know the extent of your loyalty to your queen. The former prince might not have known but who is to tell us that you didn't know this already and this is all just an act?"

"Forgive my boldness, King Frederik, but I believe you all saw the envelope was sealed" Storm responded.

"Yes, it was, but her father spoke to you and you speak with her" Elsa and I shared a worried look.

"Gentlemen" Elsa called before Storm could reply "This is not the time for accusations. I thought I was clear on our last encounter. I won't tolerate such words among should-be allies. Especially after a revelation such as this" she seemed to be about to go on, but then we heard Skylynn's voice out of the door call for Hans. We all turned back to the door and after a few seconds, Sky walked back in. I never saw thought I'd see the Heroine of Drakora so distraught. She used those few minutes to get it together, but she was still processing the news.

"Where's your brother?" I asked

"He needs a moment… a _long_ moment" she replied, detached, like her mind was miles away.

"I'm not making accusations, but don't either of you find this a curious coincidence, your Graces?" he asked Elsa and I, but instead of letting us answer he went on talking towards Skylynn.

"How old is your brother, Queen Skylynn?" he asked. Sky furrowed her eyebrows but went along.

"He's turning 24 in January" she answered. King Frederik, smiled an angry smile towards himself as if he had just come to a conclusion.

"Well played, Skylynn I of Drakora, very well played" he said "You got us both. For a moment I believed you were actually participating to this battle, not just for an alliance and for your drakorian 'freedom spirit'… but now I see why you are really doing this" he accused.

"King Frederik-" Elsa tried.

"With all due respect, Queen Elsa, I am fairly a few years older than you and I can see when one has been outsmarted. Don't let your young age fool you. She's not really here because of Weselton. She's here because of the Southern Isles' throne. Don't you see that? How do you expect me to side with someone who's just as power hungry as the Duke of Weselton?" he said "Corona is not entering this war. Not now, not ever" he then decided. Just then I had one thought: _we are_ _ **so**_ _screwed_.

"You're making a mistake, King Frederik" Elsa said "It's true, Queen Skylynn has a claim to the Southern Isles' throne, but we can all agree that both the kingdoms, even without considering the distance by sea, are impossible to control"

"Please, put your prejudice and feelings aside and try to work this out rationally _with_ us" I said

"You need us, now more than ever with the Southern Isles and Weselton joining forces. After Arendelle and Drakora, the next target is Corona for sure" Elsa added. Skylynn let out a sardonic laugh. We all stared at her. Elsa and I shared a look with Storm, as Frederik looked even more irritated at her.

"Please, King Frederik, you've got my curiosity now. What would my scheme be? Please enlighten me, because honestly, I don't remember having the Isles ever in my mind. I didn't even know I was officially acknowledged as _Princess_ _of the Southern Isles_ " Skylynn said and that smug smile on her face, that smile that looked so much like Hans's, only made Frederik angrier.

"Your precious Commandant has no secrets with you and he talked to your father. I'm sure you knew about this before opening that letter" he accused "After committing a crime such as attempted regicide, your brother lost everything. You know that crown is already yours. Your hatred for your half-brothers is no secret. They might have mistreated you because of this document and your illegitimacy, but now that you know of your claim to the throne this is the perfect chance for you to get your revenge and get your crown. All you needed was a way to have the Southern Isles declare war to you. If there is a traitor, that traitor is _you_ "

"Frederik!" Elsa and I exclaimed

"She is _using_ you, Elsa! Why can't you see that? _She_ is the one who sent the assassin! She knew about that document, she equipped one of her men with an arendellian weapon and sent him to the Southern Isles to kill the regent, her own brother, in order to make it look like it was _your_ doing out of revenge for the former prince's treachery, and all taking advantage of Weselton's lies regarding you. Seeing the arendellian dagger, now the Isles have a reason to enter this war. The only reason she wants us as her allies is because she wants her victory assured and she knows you need her and won't say 'no'. That's why you were willing to give up Weselton to Corona! Why would you need it when you have the Southern Isles to gain?"

"How dare you?!" Storm shouted at him. He was angry, _really_ angry. I never thought I'd see him like that. Skylynn placed her hand on his chest to stop him from advancing, never taking her eyes off the king and that smile still on her face.

"Relax Commandant, this is actually quite entertaining" she said. Storm glanced at her with wide eyes.

"I'm sure it is for a girl who had her own husband murdered her for power" Frederik said and we all froze. Skylynn's smile faded in a look that emanated instantly a gloomy aura of death.

"I am many things, but I'm not a murderer… especially not of my own husband" she said darkly "Of _that_ you can be sure"

"Can I? I'll be frank with you all: I cannot enter this military alliance if I'm not sure to have the support of both sides. I'm sorry, Queen Elsa, but I can't commit my country to Arendelle when Arendelle is committed to a possible foe. Right now, after this document so _casually_ comes out the moment the death of King Theodore is announced, it only makes me think that there is a snake among us and that snake has grey eyes and wears a crown. So, I want a clear explanation to all the Drakorian mystery and elusiveness and I want it now, otherwise Corona is out"

"That's _it_! I won't allow you to talk to our queen in such manner!" Storm exclaimed and the moment I saw what he was taking out of his uniform pocket I froze in place, my hand instantly gripping onto Elsa's wrist to get her attention.

"Put that glove back in your pocket in _this instant_ , Commandant!" Skylynn barked deathly at Storm, who remained at loss of words for a moment, but obliged. But that gesture was the last straw for my sister.

"Enough!" she exclaimed and got their attention "This is _not_ why we had you summoned here! We were here to talk as allies and once again, I find myself tearing you away from each other because you're squabbling like children! The Duke of Weselton is promulgating this war by convincing his possible allies that he's on some sort of crusade to free the world from me, the Witch with deadly ice magic, the evil villain. We all know that is only an excuse to try and conquer Arendelle, but from what we know, people believe him. He found support with Meintank, the Southern Isles and probably others" The air was strangely not getting chilly one bit, but Elsa was angry as continued to speak "I thought I had been clear: I am _choosing_ to fight this war like the Queen of Arendelle… but if my allies can't put their differences aside and cooperate then you leave me no choice but to defend my kingdom like the Snow Queen the Duke is out for. My kingdom comes first and I will defend it with every means possible, even if it means annulling the alliances with Drakora and Corona" Elsa paused "Have I been clear enough?"

Silence followed my sister's outburst. This was not the first time she spoke like that. We were desperate on some level and this behavior on either side wasn't helping. Skylynn, Storm and I both knew very well that partly Elsa was bluffing, it wasn't just her choice, she suspected the Duke had an ace up his sleeve. Most of all, Elsa was terrified of the idea of causing another Eternal winter, but if this was the situation, she didn't really have a choice.

"Weselton was behind King Landon's murder" Skylynn revealed calmly, her sudden voice and revelation taking us off guard. "It wasn't enough for the Duke to betray us by helping the usurper, he had set his eyes on Drakora. Landon wasn't a victim of a simple rogue ambush; the duke paid a group of assassins to take him and his sister out and probably myself too"

"Why would he do that?" Frederik asked crossing his arms. His voice was calm and he glanced at Elsa, who remained quiet, suddenly taking the position of a supervisor. It was weird to see this man, this _king_ around the age our father would have been now, suddenly act as if he were a small boy trying to make peace with his big sister under their mom's watch. Skylynn clasped her hands behind her back.

"Because our kingdom was rebuilding and because he knew that in Drakora if a ruler dies with no heirs, the crown goes to the closest relative by blood. Even though we were married, the crown and throne would have gone to Princess Angel" Skylynn explained

"And with both of them dead and Skylynn with no rightful power, if not dead, Drakora would have fallen into chaos" Elsa pieced together

"What he did not expect was for you and Princess Angel to survive and hand you the crown immediately with the people's support, especially the army's" I added looking towards Sky.

"Exactly" she confirmed. There was a small silence in which only I saw Storm quietly and gently place a hand on Skylynn's forearm behind her back and give it a small squeeze, rubbing his thumb over it. Sky slightly moved her head towards Storm, glancing at him, but quickly moving her silvery gaze back to the king.

"We didn't immediately execute the surviving assassins once we found them, first we had them talk" she continued "They revealed it was the Duke who hired them, he wanted to create another crisis in the kingdom so that damaged and with no leader, Drakora would have become an easy target for him. My people knew, all of Drakora knew and every heart of the kingdom started boiling with thirst for revenge. How would _you_ react after the person you fought for, made sacrifices for and lost a lot for, was killed just a year after you put them back where they belonged? And what for? Satisfying another ruler's _greed_. All that hard work, war, loss and suffering… for nothing. Gone… just like that" Skylynn paused

"Angel and I managed to ease the tension among the people, calm their spirits, but that thirst for justice… it just doesn't fade like that" she continued "News of Landon's death came out so late because Angel, my people and I didn't allow them to in order to keep unwanted attention away from us. As to why we didn't confront Weselton directly is a question a king such as yourself should know the answer to" Skylynn challenged. Suddenly it seemed like King Frederick lowered his guard, for good this time. Realization was written all over him, Elsa and I glanced to one another as the pieces of the Drakorian puzzle came together. This didn't just explain the mystery, it also explained why Sky seemed so keen on going to war against Weselton. It's true, there was no way out of it diplomatically, but even though she could, Sky didn't even put one bit of effort to avoid the battlefield, unlike when the events she had just revealed happened. A crime had been committed in Drakora, but when the one responsible for it is the ruler of another country, there was only one way to "have justice" … but acting like Elsa, like a ruler, she put her country first.

"You couldn't risk another war… not with your kingdom in those conditions" King Frederik voiced. A look of guilt seemed to pass through his eyes, but then he asked another question "Your law is clear: regicide is punished with death… so, this is really why you want to enter this war, not just to honor your alliance with Arendelle" the king said looking at us, before glancing back to the young queen and her commandant "This is your opportunity to have justice, justice for their betrayal and justice for King Landon's assassination"

"The secret's out now" Skylynn said. Elsa and Sky shared a look of understanding. Skylynn didn't need to tell us this, she didn't have to give any sort of justification to anyone, that was Drakorian business, yet she did for the greater good. This is what a ruler does. That was why Elsa and Sky were a team. King Frederick had finally seen that and why Elsa and I trusted Skylynn completely, no matter her warrior ruthlessness.

"Going back to this document…" Storm spoke up, pointing at the paper still in my hands "Were we in any other situation it would have been useless regarding the war, but… this is basically yelling at us who was behind Theodore's assassination"

"Your half-brothers" Elsa said facing Sky who just nodded "They knew about the document and instead of trying to fix their relationship with Queen Skylynn and former-prince Hans, they took it as an insult and… considering the Southern Isles' conservative politics it was to them. If the birth of an illegitimate child created such a scandal that the king had to abdicate in order to keep the family in power, think of the consequences of finding out that the last born legitimate heir and the illegitimate one are considered more suitable for the throne rather than the others. Not to mention that said illegitimate heir is a woman who, **_unaware_** of this document, became Queen and Heroine of Drakora" Once again all the pieces of the puzzle came together.

"After what happened here in Arendelle" Storm continued "Theodore intended to keep the peace among the kingdoms and when Weselton offered him an alliance to go to war against it he refused. He put Isles first, but clearly his brothers saw an opportunity: kill the other heir their father chose. First, they got Hans out of the way and now they are coming for Queen Skylynn. When Prince August is crowned king, because of how things are, he'll be basically sitting her throne"

"Well, he can keep it for all I care. I don't want it, but now we're getting off topic" Sky said

"They know Queen Skylynn and Hans Westerguard are here, and they want them gone for good" I said "They know they'll find her on the battlefield as for Hans…" then it hit me, what Elsa and Sky were talking about when he first came back. For the first time I actually started to have my doubts regarding him… but then again, there were so many other options for him to get away, yet he chose to kill his way to the throne. That's pure evil _greed_! Yet, even I had to admit that from what I've seen from afar and the servants' opinions regarding him, there was something different in him. Maybe I had trouble trying to let go of the evil he had done and try to look at it from a more general view, but if there had been things that made me doubt, there was still that image of him with a sword above Elsa's neck and the cruel words he spoke to me. Hans was not crazy. He had planned everything. How was I supposed to let go of that? This document though, made my anger towards him falter. If those little things I managed to get out of Sky and Elsa were true and his brothers really did abuse him so much that he saw no other way and was _that_ desperate… who was I kidding? The first letter in my hands confirmed it. He was abused, and his father did nothing. Had he known about having basically been elevated to Crown Prince he wouldn't have done what he did. His brothers had betrayed him, his own blood.

"… they either want to take him out for good, or they are afraid he could somehow get the throne of the Southern Isles back by being pardoned here" I concluded. The others glanced at me, all in agreement. What had happened was now clear.

"While they were here, one of them got an arendellian dagger, they hired an assassin and equipped him with the dagger and had Theodore killed. They were waiting for an opportunity to attack Arendelle with allies and by staging an assassination they now have the perfect excuse to attack you" it was Frederick who finished for us. His eyes glanced between Elsa and Skylynn.

"I apologize for my earlier accusations, Queen Skylynn" he said "I let my prejudice get the best of me and accused you of a horrible act you didn't commit. I hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me"

"Apology accepted, your Majesty" she responded curtly, but politely.

"Queen Elsa, I owe you an apology as well. I am thirty years older than you and a king, I should have acted like it"

"I am grateful and accept your apology, King Frederik" Elsa said "But will we have your support?" she asked, silence once again ruled inside the room. I could feel my heart pound inside my chest. This was bigger than we thought, it wasn't just Weselton, it was the Southern Isles. We all knew that those men were thirsty with power. They had betrayed their youngest brother, were hellbent to kill their half-sister and they had already murdered their eldest brother. It was clear that once they assured themselves the chosen heirs were gone, they were going to turn on each other to get the crown. If not, the Southern Isles were going to be the next problem and Corona was the closest to them. King Frederik's eyes said it all, he knew that his country was in danger, by both Weselton and the Southern Isles. An alliance with Arendelle and Drakora was his only chance.

"You both have Corona's full support" he declared. We were all relieved and didn't waste another moment we all signed the treaty. It was a miracle I managed to write straight, my hands were still shaking a little because of how nervous I was. This had been intense, and Elsa had been amazing. I was so proud of her. Had it not been for her diplomatic skills we wouldn't have gotten to this. Sure, the former Southern Isle's king letter had been helpful, but also a double-edged sword, it was Elsa who managed it not to backfire, especially since none of us knew the contents of it.

We had just gotten out Elsa's study and King Frederik had left to go to his room and write back home to give orders so that the Coronan support would come to Arendelle as soon as possible. Skylynn's mask fell the moment the king left. She was clearly still in shock. She run a hand through her hair, the scar on the corner of her eyebrow in clear view, and took a breath, closing her eyes.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked, wrapping my hands on her arm. She swallowed, growing restless as she tried to look anywhere but to Storm, Elsa and me, before finally meeting my gaze.

"Not exactly…" she muttered

"Queen Elsa! Princess Anna!" Kai's voice made our heads snap towards him as he jogged to us, followed by Gerda.

"Kai, Gerda, what happened? What is it?" Elsa asked worriedly and the look on their faces wasn't helping.

"Hans Westerguard is gone!" Kai said. Sky's head snapped up as she too was worrying. This was clearly not a good day for her.

"What do you mean he's gone?!" I asked alarmed. This was not good! He can't be gone! For all he knows if he does something, Sky pays for it! A horrible thought crossed my head as I remembered the document now resting back in Storm's pocket. _Dang it!_ I **_knew_** he was going to try to run away! He doesn't care about anyone but himself!

"He just vanished!" Gerda said "Steward, the head horseman, said he went to the stables and took his horse on the paddock for training"

"-but the moment he walked away to get hay for the horses Westerguard was nowhere to be found!" Kai interrupted.

"Have you looked for him?" Storm asked "He can't have left! He knows who's at stake here!"

"We have looked all over the castle, but there's no sign of him and his horse" Gerda said.

"Ring the bell!" I said "Gather the guards! We can't let him escape!"

"No!" Elsa said and we all halted. I expected that opposition to come from Skylynn, but it was Elsa who spoke up first "Don't call the guards and don't ring the bell"

"What?! Why?" I exclaimed.

"He didn't escape" Elsa said as what seemed like realization was in her eyes "I know where he is"

* * *

 **BOOM! There you have it! I hope I didn't bore you with this chapter. Well, truth's out. Hans used to be the Southern Isles's heir and thanks to what he was lead to do out of desperation, he lost everything. Where do you think he went? How do you think things will change between him and Elsa?  
Review and let me know!  
Thank you for reading and thank you for reviewing.**

 **Love you guys!**

 **See you next chapter!**

 **The Princess of Stars**


	35. The Aftershock

**Hi guys!  
A little author's note to those who have doubts regarding the last chapter:  
Hans was the rightful heir to the Southern Isles throne, because when his father abdicated he CHOSE Hans as his successor, instead of giving the crown to his eldest son. **

**I hope that cleared things up.  
Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Elsa's POV:**

I pulled on the reins and Sapphire gently came to a halt. I knew I was going to find him there. Sitron was tied to the solitary tree, while Hans was sitting in front of the lake where we almost shared a kiss. His back faced me as he stared into the water thinking about what had just happened. I gave Sapphire a gentle kick and walked to the tree. I knew Hans had heard me, but he didn't move a muscle. I got off Sapphire and tied her next to Sitron. Hans remained still, his shoulders slightly rising as he let out a long breath. Quietly, I made my way to him, not really knowing what to say, and kneeled behind him. My arms slid around him as I rested my chin on his shoulder. I felt Hans's breath hitch for a moment, but then he hesitantly brought a hand to cover my arm, lightly tilting his head towards me.  
I didn't plan or decide to hold him like that, I just did. It came out natural. After what he had just discovered he needed comfort. I had no idea of how he must have been feeling right now, but Hans wasn't fine, he was very far from it. All I knew was that I couldn't comfort him with words, simply because I couldn't possibly imagine what _this_ kind of betrayal felt like. I couldn't even try to imagine it if Anna did it to me, because that would be another level of betrayal all together.

Words were not spoken between us. We just stayed there like that for a few moments, with the gentle autumn breeze touching our embrace. Hans slightly tilted his head back down, but his hand kept stroking my arm. My arms gently tightened around him, turning my face nestling my nose in his silky locks. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath and inadvertently breathed in his clean, musky, sweet scent. Hans took in a deep shaky breath, his hand finding mine and taking it in his, his head once again slightly turning towards me, suddenly finding our heads gently pressed against one another. Hans's green orbs stared empty into the ground, glassy and wounded.

 **Hans's POV:**

I was far from okay in that moment. I didn't even know myself what I was feeling. All I could define in that devouring feeling inside was disgust and sickness and a void. All I wanted was for something to hit me hard enough to either send me in an endless sleep or wake me up from this nightmare.  
 _Rejection. Betrayal. Hate. Self-loathe. Shame._ Were these the only feelings I was allowed to have and receive? Will I ever be able to fill in this black void that now only seemed to grow darker and lonelier? I couldn't tell, but this is what my life has been. I was a prince, my father had _chosen_ me to be king even if I was 13th in line, but it doesn't mean anything when your own family doesn't love you and does everything they can to make you miserable. I lived in a golden cage, the same one that held Elsa prisoner for 13 years. We were free, yet prisoners of the same golden cage: her side created by fear, mine hand-made by my kin's betrayal.

I then heard her horse come closer, I heard her hop off Sapphire and quietly walk to me. I only came to my sense when Elsa's caring arms slid around my shoulders, locking on my chest. My breath hitched as I realized she was holding me in a comforting, warm embrace, resting her chin on my shoulder. It took me a moment and hesitantly, brought a hand upon her arm slightly turning my head in her direction. I could feel her soft breath on my neck, sending shivers down my spine.

Elsa didn't speak, but her touch suddenly made me realize how much I needed that embrace. Not just someone's: _hers_. I needed Elsa now. I needed her and here she was when I thought I was going to resign to keep everything bottled up. I was grateful that she had come looking for me, but even then, I tried to keep everything in. It was pathetic really, and if I started crying in front of her like beaten child it was going to be an even more squalid sight. I knew she was there to listen, but if part of me was yelling at me to let the feelings out and share it with her, there was a part that was terrified of doing so.  
Elsa's arms gently tightened around me as she nestled her small nose in my hair. That closeness was more than enough for me. I wanted to turn around and hug her as tight as I could but didn't dare to push for more than what I was receiving, scared to lose this connection.

Thoughts clouded my mind as did fear of looking Elsa in the eyes, when once again I remembered my crime. I had managed to turn towards her, to move my hand to find hers, but I couldn't lift my gaze to her, not yet at least. I still needed a moment. This wasn't about what I did, it was about my family. Thinking about it with a clearer mind, for how clear it could be right now, somehow, I was relieved... It was then that I managed to lift my head up and look at meet Elsa's crystal eyes.

 **Elsa's POV:**

He was on the verge of crying. I could tell. He was torn both in feelings and soul. He was trying not to feel and conceal, something I knew far too well. Unlike what others might have thought, or wante to see, Hans was just a man. He was a man far more sensitive than he appeared. He wanted to let it all out but was bottling everything in because he was taught that emotions were a weakness.

"Hans, talk to me" I said gently, not even realizing my free hand had trailed up to cup the back of his head, my fingers carefully running through his hair. He didn't reply and remained still, taking in another breath as if he was somewhere else with his mind "Hans, look at me. Talk to me… please" I insisted gently. Slowly lifted his head to meet my gaze. His eyes glassy and wounded, but there was something else behind them. Those emeralds that were usually calm and gentle were now spent and betrayed, but there was a small light behind them and it gave me hope. I encouraged him once again to speak with me, my voice barely above a whisper, shifting beside him. My arms still around his shoulders, as he let go of my hand, locking his arms around his knees and looking back towards the lake.

"It's okay to have feelings… cry if you need to, I won't judge" I told him softly.

"I deserve to be punished because of what I did to you and your sister… but I didn't deserve to be betrayed by my brothers like this" he started. He held back from crying, but tears slid down his cheeks anyway "I always thought my father didn't care. I thought he considered me worthless… a-and now I find out that he considered me good enough to rule the kingdom" his voice cracked, but Hans inhaled deeply to keep it all in and went on "I was 11 years-old when he wrote down that document… and he believed I was more suitable for the throne than my older brothers… My father thought I was worthy of ruling. Choosing us as heirs had been his way to tell us: _'Hans, Sky, I think about you! You matter to me! You're more than you believe you are!'_ … The crown, no matter the weight of it, was his gift to me because I somehow earned it… and my brothers robbed me of that along with my life" he paused looking away from me. I didn't say a word, giving him all the time he needed to let out his feelings.

"You know… part of me is relieved" he continued "Now I know why my brothers hate so much. There have been times, growing up, that I thought my brothers hated me so much because in reality I was a bastard just like Sky, but had been lucky enough to be male and take after my father to easily pass as another 'official' Westerguard. A few years after my sister had been kicked out of the palace I even asked my mother directly because of how frustrated I was!" his voice cracked once more as he breathed in deeply again.

"And she didn't tell you anything? Do you think she knew about the clauses?" I asked softly.

"She assured me that I was hers, but didn't say anything about the abdication document… but after today, I think she knew but kept quiet" Hans responded "When I came to her I was desperate for an answer and all my mother said was _'that's what's brothers do'_ and minimized to normal brotherly rivalry. I didn't even tell her everything because I was ashamed of having to resort to run to mommy and daddy, because _'a real man deals with his problems alone, if he doesn't he's a weak bug'_ " he paused. I couldn't believe what more I was hearing. I had seen with my own eyes how much hatred those monsters had for their brother, but it was still beyond my understanding

"Now, thinking about it, memories of that day came back as if it happened yesterday, and I remember that… when I asked her _why_ … why did they hate me so much if we shared the same blood? She looked at me in a way that just now I realize was panic. Panic because she didn't know what to say" he stopped once more wiping the tears away from his eyes, before that bitterness turned into anger.

"I'd like to know why the _hell_ my father thought it was a good idea to tell my brothers?!" he erupted frustrated "He could have told Theodore, after all he was the eldest and deserved to know, but why would he tell the others? How the **_hell_** could he think they would suddenly come down from the pedestal and _'take me under their wing'_?! It is so controversial and stupid that by trying to punish them for their crap behavior in general, he ended up punishing _me_ instead!" tears once again fell from his eyes "I am relieved to finally have an answer! I am grateful, _happy_ even and shocked in good way to learn that in that snake pit palace I had to call home, I mattered to someone! I was worth something to someone! But at the same time, I'm furious because this has ruined my life! Because of a crown I didn't ask, my brothers did all they could to make me believe I was worthless or not enough for simply breathing! That's how they made me live every single damn day! And I am _such_ a pathetic, naïve, gullible **_idiot_**!" he said roughly standing up and taking a step away from me and closer to the water's edge, running a hand through his hair

"Hans don't. That's not true!" I finally interjected, standing up myself.

"Isn't it?!" he shouted "I let them manipulate me like a puppet! They made me believe that by getting a throne with any means possible I would finally be one of them, when in truth they only set me up to go do something repulsive and stupid so that they could get rid of me because they never hid that I was garbage to them! Now, they must be really proud of themselves because that is _exactly_ how I turned out!" he shouted but his voice chocked

"Hans, stop" I said taking a step closer to him, but he was on a roll, finally letting out all he felt, but I didn't want him to talk about himself like that.

"I've wasted my entire life trying to prove something to people who never gave two craps about me! How is that not dumb?!"

"Stop it" I said soothingly

"There's something rotten in my brothers and they wasted no time to share it with me! They did an amazing job in turning me into a psycho, caged beast! They turned me into them!" He was crying at this point, letting all his repressed anger out.

"Hans, stop it! Stop" I said gently taking his face in my hands

"Elsa, no…" he complained trying to push me away "Don't…" I pushed his hands away and went back to hold his face

"Hans, stop…" he struggled weakly "Stop, stop…" he quieted down giving up and finally crying it out the moment I pulled him into a tight embrace. Hans hesitated at first, but then he wrapped his arm around me, burying his face in my shoulder. This cry wasn't about the news he had just received, he was letting out all the feelings he had bottled inside. It was cathartic, he needed this. It broke my heart to see him like this, I couldn't do anything but hold him tight and allow him to let all those repressed feelings out. It was all I could do, for it was all I wanted all those times that fear, the isolation, the longing for love and the pressure of being the future queen felt all too much. Those few moments, holding him like that, brought me back to those nights in which I cried myself to sleep when I couldn't keep everything in anymore. I felt my own eyes water when that thought crossed my mind.

"I didn't deserve it, Elsa" he sobbed, his voice cracking "All I ever did was trying to win their love and fit into my family… I just wanted to belong… I didn't deserve it…" I cupped the back of his head, tightening my embrace. A tear slid down my cheek. I had to rub it off, immediately, I couldn't let Hans see it. This moment wasn't about me.

"I know" I said gently "I know... but don't talk about yourself like that. Don't you remember what I told you at this very lake? You're not like your brothers" I paused, quickly wiping the tear away as Hans pulled his head back up, pulling away from our embrace, doing the same with his.

"I'm sorry…" he apologized, drying his eyes.

"Don't apologize, it's okay. You don't have to be afraid of your emotions, believe me, _I_ _know_ …" I told him taking his hands in mine "You're right to be mad, but don't you dare think for a second that you have something rotten within you. You're not evil and they haven't won. They'll win if you give in to rage and hate like them… we wouldn't be here right now if you had. You're away from them and you're alive. They already stole your childhood, don't let them steal the rest of your life with this" Hans remained quiet, looking towards the ground, before meeting my gaze again.

"Let my sister go" he said softly "Please, Elsa…" his eyes were pleading.

"What?"

"I know you can let her go. She has a kingdom to run, there are people who depend on her. She can't stay stuck in a kingdom that isn't hers for my crime. Please, let me stay here, but **_please_** let _her_ go" he pleaded

"She'll leave once you're redeemed" I said

"That's why I'm begging you to let her go… it's pointless to have her stay here" he said

"You don't think you'll ever redeem yourself" I said. It was a statement. By asking me to send Skylynn home, Hans was telling me he didn't believe in his redemption. He didn't believe he could be a better man.

"I know redemption is not possible… all these months I've always known, I just deluded myself I could find it" he said with a sigh "You've already done _so_ much for me, Elsa. I _feel_ like a different man from the one who came to your coronation… but nothing is ever going to change what I did… manipulated like a puppet or not, I acted just like my brothers… what I did is unforgivable" he said looking down at our intertwined hands "It hurts to know I'll never have forgiveness when I think about the friendship we've built, or our almost-kiss that plays back in my mind every single day" I felt my heart clench when he said those words, for I too kept thinking about it "…and it hurts to look at you and find _these_ memories, but no forgiveness in your eyes"

"And you won't find it until Anna forgives you" I reminded him. Maybe it was cruel now, but it was the truth and I was not going to hide it from him " _She's_ the one you wronged most, _she_ gets to decide your forgiveness"

"And I wouldn't have it any other way" he responded with his voice gently bitter "But do you really think redemption is possible?" he asked. I felt his hands slightly tighten around mine. He didn't even realize it as his green eyes stared back at me. I didn't speak immediately, but I had seen enough of him to know that the answer was clear to me. He didn't move a muscle and just stared into my eyes when I let go of his hands and cupped his face between my palms once more.

" _Yes!_ " I said gently reassuringly "You _have_ to believe you can earn forgiveness. You must at least give a shot to the chance you have. You've been doing up to this day, so don't give up now. You have suffered and warred with yourself enough, it's time for you to win. Even if Anna doesn't forgive you, you'll be at peace with yourself knowing that you tried your best… and now are your best self" I said gently, my eyes lingering into his "If I didn't believe it, I wouldn't be here for you" Another silence followed. Hans lowered his gaze in thought, before his eyes met with mine once more and this time, he gently smiled back at me.

"I'm sorry for vanishing without saying anything" he apologized shyly

"It's okay" I said "You needed some time alone. I understand" He silently and gently nodded "Are you ready to go back to the castle?" I asked. Hans took in a breath.

"Yeah" we smiled to one another once more and walked to the horses.

 **Hans's POV:**

Elsa and I walked side by side. She had no idea how much her words had meant to me. Hearing her say that I could find redemption was more than enough to make me believe that I still could. It was then that something came to my mind: I had never apologized to Anna. I knew that it probably wouldn't mean anything to her and now it was probably going to mean even less and look bad. I had to do it, though. I had to do it somehow. I had to try and when she would have refused my apology, I was going to have to prove to her I had changed. Elsa was right on everything. I could still prove I wasn't like my brothers. I had to prove it to Anna, Elsa and myself. I couldn't give up now! This isn't just about forgiveness, this is about being at peace with myself by trying the best I can to make it up to the sisters and the kingdom.

"I'm sorry about your brother" she said breaking the silence.

"So am I" I replied

"Are you alright?" she asked. The question was natural, but if once I would have felt like I would disappoint her with my answer, now I knew she would have understood.

"No" I said stopping, Elsa halting her pace beside me "…but not because of grief" I replied "I'm upset, he was the least worst of my brothers, but I don't feel anything… or at least I don't feel what I should in mourning a brother… blood alone doesn't make family" Elsa remained quiet for a few seconds. Her eyes showing sympathy with no words needed. I could only reply with a small grateful smile.

"Thank you" I voiced, meaning it "Thank you for everything… Thank you for being here"

"Always" she said, her lips in a warm smile. My hand reached up and caressed her face gently, as if living on its own. My thumb delicately stroking her cheek. Elsa unconsciously leaned into my touch. Her eyes dancing upon my features, meeting mine. Tearing my gaze away from hers, I watched as my own hand moved to place a stray hair behind her ear and then head down. Once again, her crystal orbs followed my moves as my hand gently cradled her braid, my fingers slowly brushing her thick, silk-like locks, my thumb occasionally touching the small ice crystals that adorned her hair. Elsa's hand came up to touch my own, my eyes trailing back to hers to find _the look_ , once more. We remained still and silent, but it was then that we seemed to both wake up from that moment. I dropped my hand as Elsa took as small step back.

"We should go" she said, awkwardly clearing her throat.

"Yeah" I agreed, scratching the back of my neck and turning back to the horses' reins. I untied Sapphire from the tree branch and helped Elsa up on her horse before climbing on Sitron and together we rode back to the palace.

We rode back to the palace like strangers. Not talking and not looking to one another, unless you counted the occasional glances. When we arrived back to the stables, we were welcomed by the guards. Elsa had promptly stopped them and covered for me when the Captain asked where I was and what took us so long. She didn't say anything, but just reminded him she was the queen, therefore she didn't owe explanations to anyone and that the important thing was that I hadn't fled. Last I saw Elsa that day was when she walked away without glancing back, escorted by a few guards, while I resumed my stable duties.

* * *

 **And here it is another Helsa moment! Thank you all for your reviews on the last chapter, I appreciate it.  
What did you think about it? I hope you didn't get the idea of Hans being a wimp or something, but I felt like he needed this moment to just let everything out. The way I see crying is not just to express sadness, but (as Elsa says) it is cathartic, a way to let out feelings repressed inside for a long time and Hans _really_ needed this.  
And oopsy! Hans and Elsa are making sparks again. I have already decided, but I want to know how long do _you_ think they will be able to hold themselves back?  
**

 **Apart from that, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Tell me what are your thoughts on it and your Helsa thoughts on this ;-)  
See you next chapter!**

 **The Princess of Stars**


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